Bianca Phillips's Blog, page 170

This Is My Jam

Okay, technically, this is my fruit spread. But that doesn't have the same ring to it. What am I talking about? Italian-imported Fiordifrutta fruit spreads by Rigoni di Asiago!

A little while ago, I got an email from a PR rep from Rigoni di Asiago asking if I'd like to review the company's chocolate hazelnut spread. I got all excited until I googled and realized it wasn't vegan. So I wrote an email back politely declining. But the PR rep responded by telling me that she'd be happy to send over some of Rigoni di Asiago's vegan, organic fruit spreads instead. Well, yes!


I got to pick two flavors from their long list of all-natural fruit spreads. I went with Wild Lingonberry (because I'd never heard of a lingonberry, so it sounded intriguing) and Lemon (because I love all things lemon!).

Each jar contains more than THREE POUNDS of organic, non-gmo fruit sweetened with apple juice and thickened with pectin. And that's it. Only three ingredients! Now that's about as unprocessed as it gets, folks. The spreads are also lower in calories than most jams and jellies because of the natural sweetener. Most jams are around 50 calories per tablespoon, but these range from 30 to 40 calories.

You can do all kinds of things with fruit spread — add it to coconut yogurt, use it as a muffin filling, top your pancakes with it, even blend it into smoothies. But I'm old-fashioned. I like my fruit spread on toast. I tried the Lemon Fiordifrutta spread on a slice of vegan-buttered sprouted grain toast with a side of tofu scramble. It has a nice lemony tang, but the sweetness from the apple juice offsets that so that it's not too tart. The perfect combo.


I didn't know what to expect from the Lingonberry Fiordifrutta spead since I'd never had a lingonberry. A little googling quickly revealed that lingonberry jam is a staple food in Scandinavian cuisine. Neat! The fruit spread has a tart and sweet flavor that's reminiscent of cranberries. Seemed like the perfect thing to pair with almond butter on cinnamon raisin sprouted grain toast!


These fruit spreads are fantastic. I'd love to try some other flavors eventually. They have apricot, peach, wild blueberries, cherry, Seville orange, fig, pink grapefruit, and more! I looked up where to buy it, and it's available all over the place — Amazon, VitaCost, even Walmart. So from now on, this will be my jam. Or my fruit spread. Whatever.

Pink Diva Cupcakery's New Digs!

My friend Cassi has been operating Pink Diva Cupcakery, a vegan cupcake bakery, for a few months now. She started out baking special orders and catering events. And then she moved into Midtown Crossing Grill, a vegan-friendly pizza pub, where she leased space to bake and sell cakes.

And today, Cassi officially announced that she'll soon be getting her very own bakery space! Memphians are surely familiar with the original location for Deja Vu Vegetarian & Creole Restaurant at 936 Florida Street. Well, Chef Gary has closed that location since he's opened a larger, more centrally located Deja Vu on South Main. And Cassi will be leasing the space on Florida! Here's a picture of the building (with her scooter gang outside!). It still needs some power-washing, a new sign, and paint. But it's almost ready.


Over the past week, her friends (myself included) have been helping her paint some purple window trim with bright pink paint — her signature color. But we were under strict orders to keep the new location under wraps until today because Cassi wanted to announce it at her Divas Day Out event. She gathered her most loyal customers at the new location today for a little party and announcement. Here's Cassi drinking out of her giant fishbowl glass when the crowd thinned out.


The Divas Day Out party was $15 at the door, which bought you all-you-can-eat cupcakes, appetizers, and booze. She made one of my favorite cupcakes — Sweet Potato Mango. The cupcakes are made with mashed sweet potato, so they're very moist. And they're stuffed with a sweet mango puree!


And there were also boozy Bluff City Blueberry cupcakes, which were stuffed with vodka-soaked blueberries. I somehow failed to photograph those at the event today, so I swiped this picture from Pink Diva's Facebook page.


On the savory side, we had Crostini with Guacamole.


Black Bean Dip with Tortilla Chips.


And Pam's famous Asian Slaw with Tofu. God, this stuff is so good.


And there were Cucumber Slices with Tofutti Cream Cheese and Tomatoes.


Cassi used Memphis-made Pyramid Vodka to spike the pink lemonade punch. I had a few glasses. I took a picture of the punch, but then I accidentally deleted it. Oops!

There was a silent auction to help Cassi raise start-up costs for the new space. The auction included gifts from Co-Motion Studio (where I take hula-hooping lessons), Pyramid Vodka, Philip Ashley Chocolates (yes, he makes vegan chocolates!), and more.


Of course, I bid on the Co-Motion stuff. I won an entry to a hula-hoop class and one of Co-Motion's hand-made hoops. By the way, this tiny hoop was for display only. The hoop I won will be a regular-sized hoop that I'll pick out from the store. I need a new hula-hoop like I need a hole a my head, but hey, a girl can't really have too many hoops.


Pink Diva Cupcakery should be open in the new location in about a month or so. I'll keep y'all posted here! But until then, you can still find Cassi slinging cupcakes at Midtown Crossing.

Bluff City Vegan Eats: Guilt-Free Pastries

It takes some serious skill to make gluten-free desserts that are also vegan and delicious. I've sampled some xgfx vegan treats in my day that were just so-so and some that were just bad. But Memphian Brandon Thomas has mastered the art.

Brandon operates a pop-up storefront for his bakery — Guilt-Free Pastries — at 344 South Main, and he sells his stuff at Stone Soup Cafe and the Casbah Restaurant. I popped into the pop-up last weekend to grab a few treats to sample. Here's Brandon! He got his start baking healthy desserts because he weighed 300 pounds at one time and was trying to change his eating habits. After he made that change, he lost 125 pounds, and now he keeps it off by indulging in his guilt-free treats.


And here's his display case. Note that not everything here is vegan, but several items are.


I got one each of the vegan pastries to sample. I'd tried a few things before, but I needed to try them again, you know, for "research purposes." I got a Vegan Avocado Brownie.


You'd never guess this brownie was made with avocado. It had a fudgey brownie texture — all soft and chocolatey. The dark chocolate meant that it wasn't too sweet, and it had that sophisticated bitterness that cacao has. Fantastic! And only 52 calories! As a calorie counter, I really appreciate that Brandon's desserts truly are guilt-free.

I also got some bite-size Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies!


These are made with almond flour as opposed to wheat flour. But that soft cookie texture is still there! And they're so much fun to eat. Bite-sized is always better.

And finally, my very favorite item were the Vegan Snickerdoodle Cookies!


These are also made with almond flour, and they have a similar soft texture to the chocolate chip cookies. But they're LOADED with cinnamon. I love anything with cinnamon. I really didn't want this package of cookies to end. They're only 60 calories a bag, and I could have easily eaten two bags if I'd had more.

If you're looking for delicious vegan, gluten-free baked goods in Memphis, Guilt-Free Pastries is THE place to go. The pop-up is open Fridays and Saturdays from 1 to 7 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Or check out Stone Soup and the Casbah.

Split Pea Soup with Homemade Garlic Croutons

Split pea soup is as old as time. It was mentioned as far back as in Aristophanes' The Birds, a play first performed in 414 BC! But I wanted to include it in my upcoming retro vegan cookbook because I've seen so many mentions of pea soup in my research on recipes from the 20th century. It may not have originated in the last century, but it was certainly popular, especially in the early half of the 20th century.

It seems to get mentioned in a lot in cookbooks that date from around 1910 to 1919, so I figured that'd be a good decade chapter to include the recipe in. I have a fancier chipotle split pea soup in Cookin' Crunk, but I wanted to stick with something simpler — more traditional. So I whipped up a very easy, very basic recipe that I'd like to think our early 20th century ancestors would have made. Here's my Creamy Split Pea Soup with Garlic Croutons.


Okay, I'm sure our ancestors didn't drizzle their soup with garlic aioli. And they probably didn't serve it with fancy croutons. But plain old pea soup can get a little boring. I'm not being a purist with this retro cookbook. After all, I'm already bastardizing the traditional recipes by making vegan versions. So I'm taking even more creative liberty with some dishes.

This soup is really yummy and it's light enough to eat on a hot summer day. The croutons add just the right bit of texture, crunch, and burst of garlic flavor. Even though the recipe is for my next book, I'm sharing it here because we all need a bowl of split pea soup!

Creamy Split Pea Soup with Garlic Croutons
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Serves 4

For the soup:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
9 cups water
2 cups dried green split peas
1 tsp. liquid smoke
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. marjoram
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp. salt
Black pepper, to taste

For the croutons:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 day-old baguette, cubed (about 2 cups)

For the soup, heat the oil in a large soup pot with a lid. Add the onion, carrot, and celery, and saute for about 10 minutes or until the veggies begin to soften. Add the garlic and saute for one minute.

Add the water, peas, liquid smoke, herbs, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Turn heat down to a simmer and partially cover. Allow to simmer for about one hour or until peas are very soft and falling apart. Transfer the soup, in batches, to a blender. Puree until very smooth.

For the croutons, preheat the oven to 350. Combine the oil, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Toss the cubed bread into the bowl and stir until all the cubes are coated. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes or until cubes have hardened and are beginning to brown.

To serve, ladle the soup into four bowls. Sprinkle croutons over each bowl. Drizzle with vegan garlic aioli if desired.

GoMacro Bars!

It's time for another bar review! And this time, I've found a new favorite. I know I say everything is my favorite, so it's a little hard to take me seriously there. And honestly, most of the time, whatever I'm eating is my favorite thing of the moment. I just love food. But I seriously believe GoMacro is my for-real favorite bar. I've sampled a LOT of energy and snack bars for this blog, and these top them all.

I'd seen GoMacro on the shelves at Whole Foods for awhile, and they're attractive packaging always lured me in. I'm a sucker for a nicely designed package. I wanted to buy them and try them so bad! But I had such a stockpile of bars at home, I just couldn't justify buying any bars. But GoMacro asked if I'd like some samples for review, and I couldn't say no! They sent me a big ole box of sample-size mini macrobars.


Most bar companies send anywhere from three to six flavors for reviews, but GoMacro sent so many different flavors. I was overwhelmed! Here's one of each.


Unlike some bars that tend to have a uniform texture, each flavor of these macrobars varies in texture. Some, like the nut butter flavors, are chewy. Others, like the fruity ones, are soft. I really enjoyed how much each flavor varied because I felt like I wasn't eating the same bar over and over. GoMacro bars are made with only a few ingredients, and they tend to vary widely, too. Some contain rice and pea protein and have a higher protein content. Others have lower protein and more organic fruit or gluten-free oats. All seem to have brown rice syrup as the main sweetener and organic puffed rice for texture.

Since there were so many, I didn't photograph every bar that I tried, but I did take pics of many of them. My very fave was actually one I expected to like the least! It was the Apples + Walnuts bar. I just loved the crunchy walnut pieces and slightly tart apples together. I usually favor nut butter or chocolate bars over fruity ones. But not this time!


I failed to photograph the Granola + Coconut bar, but it was my second-fave, mostly because there were crunchy pieces of granola mixed in! It tasted like cereal!

Of course, I loved the Peanut Butter bar. It was chewier than some of the others, and there were little peanutty chunks. Great pre-yoga snack.

 
The Sunflower Butter + Chocolate bar was probably the most firm, chewy bar of the bunch. While I tended to favor the softer bars, I really loved the combo of nutty sunflower seed butter with melty chocolate (it was melty because I ate it in the very hot car on the way to the gym).

Cherries + Berries was another yummy fruit flavor. The cherries were really sweet, which was a nice complement to the tart cranberries in the bar. Plus, there were dates. Love me some dates. Just look at all the dried fruit in this bar!


Cashew Caramel was super-chewy. The cashew flavor was a bit overpowered by the caramel flavor. But it was still delicious. Maybe my least fave of the bunch, but that's not to be taken negatively because these bars are so amazing that they're all delicious.


I actually enjoyed the Sesame Butter + Dates at Bonnaroo. It got a little smashed in my bag, but it was still fantastic. Lots of whole sesame seeds and big chunks of dates. Can't go wrong there!


Other flavors not pictured — Cashew Butter (loved the light sweetness in this one), Banana + Almond Butter (very nice banana flavor!), Almond Butter + Carob (carob gave it a sort of coffee-like flavor), and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip (classic combo, absolutely amazing).

These bars have been perfect for powering my morning workouts. I still have some left since they sent two of every flavor, but when I run out, I won't hesitate to buy more at Whole Foods — even if I do have a bar stash at home.

Cleo's Cup Sundae with Peanut Butter Sauce!

Ooooh, girl, it's HOT outside. The heat index in Memphis reached 107 today. Now, I love me some summer heat. I'll take a 100-degree day over a 40-degree day anytime. But I still love to cool off with delicious frozen treats.

Recently, Go Max Go sent me a box of candy bars to use in developing some new recipes. Those bars arrived before the temps got this hot or else the chocolate would have been all melty. They shipped the bars with an ice pack, but that didn't survive the low 90s heat of two weeks ago. Thankfully, the bars survived.

For my first Go Max Go recipe, I knew I wanted to use the Cleo's Peanut Butter Cups because those are my favorite among their line of vegan candy bars. And ice cream sounded so perfect for those hot summer days. So I whipped up this Cleo Cup Sundae with Peanut Butter Sauce!


Any vegan vanilla ice cream will do, but I used So Delicious Cashew Milk ice cream in Creamy Cashew flavor because I think it's the best! I made a homemade peanut butter sauce (recipe below). And I crumbled Cleo's cups on top. And then that's all topped with So Delicious CocoWhip, but you could also make your own coconut whipped cream at home.

There are a couple vegan peanut butter cups on the market, but Cleo's is my fave since they're made with rice milk chocolate. Some of the others are made with dark chocolate, and that's fine. But I love that lighter milk chocolate taste the best! These remind me of the pb cups of my childhood!

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Cleo's Cup Sundae with Peanut Butter Sauce
Serves 2

1 cup vegan vanilla ice cream
1 recipe peanut butter sauce (recipe below)
1 package Go Max Go Cleo's Peanut Butter Cups, roughly chopped
Coconut whipped cream (storebought or homemade, see above link)

For the peanut butter sauce:
6 Tbsp. almond milk
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
4. tsp. agave
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine everything for the peanut sauce in a small saucepan. Heat on low until the mixture forms a thick but pourable sauce. If the sauce thickens too much, add a splash of almond milk. Allow to cool. You can add a few more splashes of almond milk after it cools if it thickens too much. The key is achieving a consistency that's similar to chocolate syrup. If you accidentally make it too thin, just whip in some more peanut butter. You really can't screw this up.

To assemble, scoop the ice cream into two bowls. Top each bowl with half the peanut sauce. Sprinkle with chopped peanut butter cups. Top with as much coconut whipped cream as you desire! Eat!

The Chubby Vegetarian Pop-up!

My friends Justin and Amy, who run the Chubby Vegetarian blog, held a pop-up restaurant event this weekend in Memphis. They're not professional chefs, and they don't even aspire to run a restaurant — at least not as far as I know. They're just amazingly talented home cooks, who wrote a fantastic tome — The Southern Vegetarian Cookbook — on meatless Southern meals. Oh, and they've spoken at the James Beard House. Yea, they're kind of a big deal around here.

Justin also happens to be a co-worker of mine. For his day job, he's a freelance photographer, and he shoots stuff for the Memphis Flyer , where I'm a reporter/news editor. So this past Saturday, the Flyer's managing editor, Susan (also a vegetarian), and I checked out the pop-up. It was held at Iris Etc. in Overton Square, which typically houses the catering operation for Restaurant Iris.


The menu was posted on a wall outside. By the time we arrived, they were already out of the waffle iron grilled cheese, but it wasn't vegan anyway. So I didn't care.


Here's Amy running the front of the house. As each customer walked in, they would fill out a slip of paper and check off what they wanted. Just like ordering sushi!


Then, you'd take your order to this table and pay. Hey, look, we ran into Cassi at the pop-up!


I ordered the Smoked Shiitake Mushroom Tamale. It was topped with a charred corn salsa. LOVED this tamale! The mushrooms were so smoky. Justin is REALLY into mushrooms. And he's pretty much a pro at cooking them.


I also got the Andouille Eggplant Po Boy with Tabasco Pickles. This was supposed to come with mayo, but I had that left off to make it vegan. The crusty bread was stuffed with eggplant "sausage" and spicy homemade pickles. The eggplant was really smoky, and it definitely had a sausagey flavor.


There was even vegan dessert! The Banana Ice Cream Sandwich with Oatmeal "Power" Cookies was a super-healthy dessert that I didn't have to feel guilty about. The cookies were raw and made with raisins, cranberries, walnuts, and coconut, and the ice cream was banana soft serve. Since it was about 100 degrees yesterday, this cool treat really hit the spot.


Everything was so amazing. And there were a few vegan items that I didn't get to try — the cabbage kimchi dumplings and the cauliflower wings. There was also rosemary lemonade, but it was sold out when we arrived. I went with a refreshing Pomegranate-Orange Sanpellegrino.


I didn't get a shot of Justin since he was busy in the kitchen. But he did come out to say hi for a minute. That was around 3 p.m., and he told us that they were almost sold out of a lot of stuff. They'd planned to stay open until 8 p.m., but I heard later that they sold out of everything by 4 p.m. Sounds like their pop-up was a huge success! How cool that a totally vegetarian food event was so popular!!

Event Announcement: Vegan Picnic Class at Whole Foods

Hey there! Tonight's post features a couple of Memphis-centric announcements for my local and Mid-Southern readers.

First, y'all should know that my friends/fellow food bloggers Justin Fox Burks and Amy Lawrence (from the Chubby Vegetarian) will be hosting a vegetarian/vegan pop-up restaurant at Iris Etc. at 62 S. Cooper on Saturday, July 11th from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. They create amazing meals, and there are some yummy-sounding vegan menu items — smoked mushroom tamales! cabbage kimchi dumplings! banana ice cream sandwiches with oatmeal ginger cookies! You can read all about it (and see the full menu) on the Memphis Flyer website.

Next, I want to talk about an upcoming cooking class at our Whole Foods. Since the Whole Foods Salud cooking school has opened, the Poplar Avenue store has scheduled several vegan classes. But some have been canceled because they didn't get enough sign-ups! We can't let this happen! So I'm helping Whole Foods spread the word when they have vegan classes coming up.

There's a Vegan Picnic class on Wednesday, July 22nd from 6 to 9 p.m. It's $59, but that includes hands-on instruction in making a full menu (details below). If you're interested, you can register here. Or check out the full Salud Summer schedule here.

And if you want to learn more (and you know you do!), here's a little Q&A with one of the class's instructors Brianna Rogers. She and Amy Schiller will be helping class participants work their way through all of the recipes!

Bri and Amy leading a class at Salud
  Vegan Crunk: What inspired the Vegan Picnic class?Brianna: We always try to offer both vegetarian and vegan classes with each of our course schedules. With this being summer and the height of festivals and camp-outs, a vegan picnic class seemed like a great class idea. Plus, one participant in the class will receive a picnic basket with goodies to get them started!

Can you give a brief rundown of what you'll be making?
Menu for the class is Fresh Corn and Tomato Salad with Herbs and Avocado, 7-Layer Salad with Cashew Mayonnaise and “Faux” Bacon, Dilled Eggless Egg Salad Wraps and Curried Chicken-less Salad Wraps, Raw Date and Nut Truffles, Strawberry Lemonade.

Is there anything special, like a skill or an ingredient, that you're excited to share in this class?
Honestly, I am excited about the cashew mayo in the 7-layer salad. Nut creams are so tasty and add such a wonderful flavor to food, and I’m really excited to use them to add a sweet, nuttiness to the salad. Plus, this will help show this technique to others and help them branch out a bit instead of just using a storebought vegenaise.

The workshop is described as hands-on. Does that mean that class participants get to try making stuff?
Definitely! In our hands-on classes, we mean exactly that: hands-on. We have the recipes mise en placed (ingredients measured and prepped) but the students do the chopping, sautéing, mixing, baking, etc. We try to have them do as much hands-on as possible. With this class, we’ll work on all of the recipes together as a group – some classes we’ll ‘divide and conquer’ and have teams make different menu items, but that is more often due to time constraints with the recipes.

Should folks come with empty stomachs or should they eat a light meal first?
Definitely do not eat a huge meal before you come – because then you won’t be hungry when you sit down to enjoy the meal you created! We do have a snack ready for participants when they arrive but everyone gets to eat a meal – it’s not just a sampling of the food created. We try to have everyone seated and enjoying their meal (and wine!) by the 2:15 mark of a three hour class. For most of our evening classes this is around 8:15pm.

I've heard there's a prize for one participant. Can you give us a sneak peek?
Yes! With this class we are giving away a picnic basket loaded with tools that you need to set the perfect picnic table: reusable plates, cups, silverware and napkins for 4. Valued at over $35.00

What are your vegan picnic essentials?
I love to pack our roasted, unsalted, mixed nuts from the Bulk department here at Whole Foods Market – great variety and super delicious. A small cutting board and knife is perfect for cutting up whole fruits (apples, peaches, pears); and don’t forget the corkscrew for the bottle of wine! Try packing salads in jars with the dressing at the bottom – large mason jars are perfect for this. All you have to do is shake and serve!

What's your favorite place to picnic in Memphis?
I love the grounds at the Metal Museum. The tall, old trees provide great shade and the view of the river is spectacular. I’m a Midtowner so Overton Park and the concerts at the Levitt Shell are always a great place to show of your picnicking prowess.

Anything else you want to share?
Salud website: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/service/salud-cooking-school-memphis We're currently working on the Fall schedule, which should be posted in August.

Behind the Scenes with the Vegan Roadie!

So y'all know the Vegan Roadie, right? If you don't, you should catch up right now! Dustin Harder, aka the Vegan Roadie, is the host and creator of the awesome Vegan Roadie web series. He travels all over the country, sampling vegan delights and highlighting awesome local businesses. He just wrapped up season one, and you can find the episodes on his website or his YouTube channel. There's one for Austin, Denver, Philly, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Boston, and more!

And now Dustin is working on a new series called The Vegan Roadie: OMG! That's Vegan!? Back in June, he emailed me to ask if I would like to be featured on the show!! I was honored and thrilled, and of course I said yes. Well, Dustin is in Memphis filming this week, and I've spent the last couple days with him. First, we met up for a get-to-know-ya dinner last night at Imagine Vegan Cafe.


Dustin ordered the vegan Shrimp Po'Boy and a side of Mac & Cheese. Of course, you know how vegans are, always taking pictures of their food.


I got my old stand-by — Vegan Cheese Quesadilla with Portabella Mushrooms, Guacamole, and Sour Cream. Of course, I immediately doused it in hot sauce.


And we split an order of the Spinach-Artichoke Dip.


Then, today, I met Dustin at his Airbnb to shoot the segment! Here's Dustin setting up camera one.


And here's me attempting a selfie in camera two, which was actually Dustin's iPhone.


For the cooking segment, I made my Deviled Tofu Bites, which are like vegan deviled eggs. Dustin got all the ingredients mise en place before I even arrived.


And here's the finished dish (after we ate a few on-camera, of course!).


I won't give away too much, but I think the show is going to be super-cute. Dustin is hilarious and super-animated. We played some games and got really silly. And yes, we are in Memphis, so he had to get some Elvis in there. Check out the sweet Vegan Roadie trucker hat he gave me.


One other cool thing to note: When Dustin isn't busy trying all the vegan things all over the country, he works as a handler for the dogs on the touring Broadway production of Annie. His boss, William Berloni, is about to launch a reality show called From Wags To Riches, all about his life working with theatrical animals. And the Annie pup stars — Macy and Sunny — got to travel to Memphis with Dustin. They were hanging in the Airbnb with us. I had to get a pic with these celebrity dogs!


I'll keep y'all posted about The Vegan Roadie: OMG! That's Vegan!? And when I find out when it'll be airing, I'll let y'all know!

Bluff City Vegan Eats: The Blue Nile

So y'all know about my love affair with Ethiopian food, right? SO IN LOVE RIGHT NOW! I mean, I've loved Ethiopian food for years, but Kittee Berns' Teff Love cookbook really just reignited my passion for injera and wat and firfir and fitfit and all that deliciousness.

Memphis was already home to two awesome Ethiopian restaurants (Abyssinia and Derae). But now we have a new Ethiopian joint, and it's right in the heart of Midtown (where I live). It's called The Blue Nile, and it just opened a couple weeks ago. My editor Susan, our intern Alexandra, and I checked it out last Wednesday for lunch. Look at the walls! So pretty.


I went with the Ethiopian Vegetarian Platter because injera.


There is just nothing tastier than a spicy lentil stew sopped up with spongy, tangy injera bread. The Misir Wat (the red lentil dish) is my very favorite Ethiopian dish, and The Blue Nile's version was spot-on. The yellow split pea wat was also amazing. And the greens. And the cabbage. And the potato and carrot dish. Everything was just perfect.

Susan, who is also a vegetarian, and I agreed to split a few things, so I shared the platter with her. And she shared this Lentil Sandwich with me. It's a cold lentil salad with tomato and lettuce on soft bread. Owner Ermyias Shiberou came by our table and told us he was going for a vegan version of a chicken salad with this. And he nailed it. Such a tasty sandwich.


We also split an order of the Tofu Kabobs. 


Let me just talk about these kabobs for a second. So Ermyias also runs a food truck called Stick 'Em that specializes in kabobs. He's been traveling around town, peddling food on a stick for quite some time. And Susan and I have long agreed that Ermyias' tofu kabobs are made with THE BEST TOFU IN TOWN. No kidding. There's a lot of tofu to be had in Memphis, and Ermyias has the best. It's firm and chewy and juicy and full of char-grilled flavor.

The Blue Nile had a few other vegan dishes on the menu that I can't wait to try. There's a Vegetarian Firfir (injera soaked in the wat!!), Shiro Wat (chickpea stew), and you can get Mesir Wat with injera by itself. You can also order the veggies separately, and the Tofu Kabobs can be ordered in a platter with rice and veggies.

The Blue Nile is located at 1788 Madison Ave. Call 901-474-7214. Or check out their Facebook page!