Paleo and Vegan take New York City

I had the opportunity to go back to NYC to attend a seminar by Rajan Sankaran, one of homeopathy’s prestigious doctors. It was a great way to step outside of Toronto to learn, do some exploring and reconnect with the city I love. While living in NYC two years ago, I was not on any particular diet so I freely ate whatever I felt like. However, now that I am mostly paleo, while going back to NYC I had the opportunity to explore various paleo friendly restaurants. I went with my friend Orissa who is a vegan so it was a lot of fun going to restaurants where we could both enjoy our meals while sticking to our diets. Below is list of restaurants and food we ate while travelling.

Breakfast and Snacks:
Breakfast was super easy. We went to Trader Joe’s (grocery store) on west 72nd and Broadway and bought some Chia seeds, raw nuts, coconut milk, bananas and pears. We mixed all the ingredients together and waited 10 minutes as the Chia seeds combine with the coconut milk to make a gelatinous substance. The Chia seeds at Trader Joe’s are so convenient as it comes in a small bag for $4.99.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51afaxxoxNL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

For snacks, we bought a couple of things from Trader Joe's like fruit, Larabars, apple sauce and dried mangoes. Mangoes are one of my favourite fruit, however; I had never had dried mangoes before. This snack is incredibly tasty and on the plus side is unsweetened and sulphur free. I highly recommend the dried mango from Trader Joe's! 

Lunch:
During lunch we found an amazing paleo and vegan friendly restaurant that was fast food style called Dig in Seasonal Market. It was very similar to what I eat at home so I was really glad we found it. You first start off with a base of greens either spinach or arugula or both. Then you choose your meat which is naturally raised and hormone free. Some options where turkey, lemon herb chicken, braised beef, salmon, organic tofu and etc. Finally you get to choose 3 different sides. I chose the sweet potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts and roasted beets with pumpkin seeds. This meal was quite big and I paid $10.50. Orissa got a small portion of the tofu with greens and she paid about $7.00. I highly recommend this restaurant. It was convenient as there are multiple locations around the city, inexpensive and best of all the food is real and healthy.






Dinner:
Dinner was a success as well! Before we went to NYC, Orissa had found a Groupon for Café Blossom in the West Village on Carmine street. I had already been to Café Blossom on the Upper West Side while living in NYC so I knew this restaurant would be perfect for the both of us. I had the Taco Trio with roasted mushrooms, corn tortilla, cabbage, carrots, onions and cilantro. The blend of flavours just melted in your mouth. This dish was so delicious I forgot there was no meat in it! I also had the house salad with greens, beets, walnuts, raisins and green apples.  This meal was exactly what I was craving. We decided to get the tiramisu for dessert as Orissa had never had it before. During the first bite, we were both so impressed that there was no dairy in the dessert. The frothy cream layers were made with coconut milk, which was so sweet and delicate. It was very close to original tiramisu. I was glad Orissa got to finally try it and really loved it! 




Another restaurant we were able to try was Hu Kitchen. Their philosophy stems on the idea of, “getting back to human way of eating without sacrificing the sensual experience of eating delicious food.” This restaurant was also perfect for the both of us as there were multiple things on the menu labeled “Paleo” which I had never seen before in a restaurant while also offering vegan friendly meals. I had the organic rotisserie chicken with a side of butternut squash and Orissa had the Grandmaster veg which was a vegan lasagna. They had multiple choices, a juice bar and various snacks or chocolate. I also got a dark chocolate bar made in Brooklyn with cacao and organic coconut sugar. The dark chocolate bar is so creamy it just melts in  your mouth. 



Be real, Eat real, Just real   

The weather was really nice on Sunday so we decided to go to the High Line which is a public park built on a railway line above the city's west side. It is by far one of my favourite places to visit in New York City. It is like a small escape from the hustle and bustle of the city life to a quaint walk down a path full of nature and calmness. 



While walking down the path I am always thrilled to see People's Pops which offers fresh, local fruit popsicles and shaved ice. I got the apricot popsicle which was so refreshing and cool. It was exactly what I needed on our warm walk down the High Line. 



Also, another one of my favourite places is Juice Generation on the Upper West Side. They offer smoothies, fresh juices, raw foods, vegan soups, and much more. I am a big fan of Juice Generation. I got the Smooth Strawberry smoothie which has strawberries, bananas, pomegranate and coconut milk. This was a step up from the smoothies I usually make at home! The hint of pomegranate gave the drink a booth of flavour along with the smooth coconut milk. If you are like me and enjoy a quality smoothie with fresh ingredients I highly recommend Juice Generation. 




Overall, our dining experience was perfect. We were quite impressed as to how easy it was to find restaurants with food we could eat without sacrificing our daily diets. 

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 1, 2014 and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response.

One Response to “Paleo and Vegan take New York City ”

KIRUTHIVASAN said...

I have been visiting your blog from past 3 months. The style of content flow looks to be marvelous.I would personally recommend our blog visitors to subscribe our posts to obtain useful posts like this periodically.
Particularly post on Paleo and Vegan take New York City is awesome. Get in touch with us via our websites vegetarian restaurant | Sweet Shop