J and I were feeling sooo veggie today :) We had an offer at El Vergel restaurant, so we decided to go today. It is located near Príncipe Pío at Paseo de la Florida, 53. Upstairs a veggie-shop, downstairs...where they cook all the goodies!
The restaurant is orange themed: walls, decorations, paintings and even napkins. Candles at the tables with books to read if one likes. Relaxing. The menu has many options but we took the sampling tasting menu.
Starters
As a starter they brought was some delicious fried-like vegetables and some bread to go with it. Soon after, 4 dishes (chef's choice) were brought to our table: goat cheese salad with caramelized onion, walnuts, raisins and lettuce, brocolli filled red pepper with cheese, black rice (as if with seafood), and two croquetas (a type of Spanish tapas).
It thrilled me that they brought us a goat cheese salad, it is sure my fave. I have to admit I was almost full by this point but we still had our main dish and dessert to go (I shouldn't have eaten breakfast!). I had ordered lasagna and J got seitan fillets.
Dessert was nice, I had some vegan orange custard and J sipped along with a soft lemon milkshake made with yogurt.
Oh, and last but not least...tea! It was so nice to sit and talk after lunch. It was sure a delightful evening, and I sure recommend this restaurant. They offer daily menu for 10 euros which includes two main dishes, bread, drink and coffee or tea, quite a deal right?
And of course... I couldn't help treating myself to some of my favorite soy yogurt: Sojade.
There are 3 essential fatty acids that our body requires for a good nutrition. Most of them are easily found on vegeterian resources such as avocados, soy, nuts... One may also find eggs with omega 3 (chicks are fed with flaxseed).
VERY IMPORTANT: the ratio between omega 6 and omega 3 consumption should be between 2:1 and 4:1. This might be quite dificult nowadays because most products have high amounts of omega 6.
Linwoods offers milled seeds, an excellent daily supplement
Using monosaturated fats and oils in cooking such as olive, canola or nuts oil is highly recommended. Also, oils rich in omega 3 like flaxseed oil may be used but NOT heated.
There are three types of omega 3 acids: ALA, DHA and EPA. DHA and EPA can only be found in fish. However, they can be synthesized by our organisms with ALA. So... we are ok ;)
I recommend buying flaxseed (6€/kg) and grinding it at home with an electric coffee grinder. It is not so expensive as buying Linwoods already milled flaxseed (16€/kg).
Source of nutrient amounts: The Food Processor Nutrition and Fitness Software, ESHA (except as indicated)
Viva la Vida is a buffet & take a way restaurant. There are two restaurants in Madrid, one is located in Huertas and the other in La Latina.
I visited "Viva la vida" in Huertas. It is a small buffet, but with a wide variety of choices. The store also has a small bio-market with soy yogurts, bio yogurts, breads, cookies and tofu and other veggie goddies.
The buffet has both cold and warm entrées. I visited it on Wednesday. The dishes I tried:
- Corn, lombard, chickpeas and carrots salad.
- Papaya, mango and green beans salad.
- Falafel.
- Rice and oat "meatball".
- Carrot and peanut "meatball".
- Apple and onion pie.
- Filled zucchini.
- Veggie-canelloni.
- Polenta pizza.
- Polenta tortilla.
- Tahini and eggplant pie.
On one hand, the best day to go is during weekdays for lunch. There is a menu for 500 g + drink for 10 euros. A dessert buffet is also found there, which includes carrot cake (so good!), brownie, chocolate chips or oat cookies, muffins...
On the other hand, there isn't a comfortable place to seat in Huertas Viva la Vida. There are two seats inside the buffet and another two outside. The Viva la Vida in La Latina has large lounge, but I haven't visited it yet (... coming up!).
However, the decoration of Viva la Vida is unique. It's colorful, green and filled with plants.
2. Fill with soy milk until the glass is half way full.
3. Mix well with the spoon.
4. Fill the whole glass with soy milk and mix again.
5. Plug in the yogurt maker. Let the yogurts "cook" during 8-12 hours. The time of "cooking" depends on the weather. In summer, less time is required due to the higher temperatures. One may also cover the yogurt maker with a cloth to help keep the heat.
6. Put the tap on each yogurt and save in the refrigerator. Once they are cold, they are ready.
RECOMENDATIONS:
- One may use fortified soy milk products with calcium, vitamin B12 and/or D to ensure better nutrition.
- Herbalist natural yogurts are the best. I haven't tried with comercialized soy yogurts.
- This recipe also applays to cow milk yoguts. The same process is required.
- This yogurt may be enjoyed with honey, brown sugar, cereals, and/or fruit.
2. Keep beating and add the flour and lemon peal with a bit of salt. Mix well.
3. Work the dough until it is soft.
4. Let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes.
5. Work the dough into a roll and cut into pieces to cover up the already washed apricots.
6. Use flour when covering the apricots, it becomes sticky.
7. Once all the knödels are done, boil water and cook knödel for 10-15 minutes in salt water.
8. Take a pan, add some butter. When the butter melts add bread crumbs, sugar and cinammon (quantity varies with how many knödels one has cooked). There should be more crumbs, than sugar and more sugar than cinammon.
9. Once the crumbs and sugar are a bit toasted (in 2 minutes) add the knödels so they are covered with the crumb mix.
I'm sometimes in the mood of treating myself to a nice healthy meal. You know - The type that makes you feel full but good inside.
I'm not thinking about a elegant or fancy restaurant. It's actually like dinning in you own living room. That's when "La Biotika" comes to my mind.
It is located in the center of Madrid, near Puerta del Sol, in Huertas. The outside of the restaurant doesn't call much one's attention, but as soon as you walk in, a small store of bio-products catches your eye, and the waiter welcomes you in. The inside is simple with an open kitchen.
As soon as one sits down, the waiter brings water, bread, and some nuts.
A minute later, the menus are handed out, and the fun begins.
The meal consits of soup, salad, a main dish with 3 different veggie-dishes, dessert, and tea. There are normally two differents soups to choose from. Also, one may picks a macrobiotic or a vegetarian meal. For dessert, they offer home-backed cakes (Algarroba is espectacular!), baked apple, soy yogurt or kefir. Teas vary from day to day.
Great place to enjoy with friends or family. Even better for dates, specially if your sweetheart likes vegetarian food. It's always crowded for lunch during the weekend, so it is better to make a reservation. At night, on the contrary, it's enought to go a little early (around 9 o'clock is fine). It also makes a good choice for celebrating birthdays. Once can order a cake... they are great.
It is a very affordable restaurant. Plus, every now and then they have 2x1 promotion for dinner during weekdays.
So... anyone feeling like some homemade vegetarian food?
Oh! Almost forgot. On Sunday afternoons they offer cooking classes, so the restaurant is closed. They also have different events :)
A vegetarian
diet can save your life and the planet. People become vegetarians for many
reasons: including to avoid pesticides and pollutants in meat; to support
animal rights; and to reduce the chance of heart disease and cancer. There are
also strong environmental arguments in favor of vegetarianism because raising
animal uses more natural resources than cultivating vegetables and grains.
Living a
vegetarian diet-lifestyle will help people fight diseases, be healthier, and
protect our environment. It is not that hard to find the protein and calcium
intakes one needs to keep a healthy diet.
When it
comes to fighting many chronic diseases, a vegetarian diet can provide potent
dietary ammunition. Numerous research studies have shown that a diet rich in
plant foods, specifically, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes,
such as dried peas and beans — the staples of a vegetarian diet — can help
lower the risk of obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, a specific type
of diabetes, and certain cancers. 'Vegetarians
have excellent health. Protein is not a limiting factor.' Says the US Government.
On the
other side, a daily diet of only rice and vegetables may be
"vegetarian" but far from a healthy and balanced diet. When meat,
fish, poultry, dairy foods, and eggs are missing in the diet, several important
nutrients could also be missing in action. All vegetarians need to make sure
that they are consuming adequate amounts of protein, iron, zinc, and vitamin
B12, calcium, and vitamins A and D.
Consequently,
keeping a healthy vegetarian diet may be hard. It
is easy to go into the not healthy vegetarian diet by eating everything that is
“not meat”, specially eating junk food. This diet will not help against diseases;
it will expose one to more.
Also becoming a vegetarian
is looking after animal welfare. About 7 billion farm animals die or are slaughtered each year in the U.S. for the
production of meat. There are no laws against cruelty to animals raised for food
in the U.S.
The Animal Welfare Act, which governs the treatment of animals, excludes
animals intended for food consumption.
Therefore, the slaughtering process
is inhumane. When the animals are stunned before they are slaughtered, it is
not always reliable and the animals are in pain while dying.
Also, a lot more water is required
in animal agriculture than in plant agriculture. It takes only about 25 gallons
of water to produce a pound of wheat and around 390 gallons to produce just one
pound of beef. Likewise, animal production requires
a lot of fossil fuels. Fuels are needed to transport animal feed, to heat their
housing, and to take the animals to slaughter, meat packing factories and
grocery stores. The burning of these fuels is one of the causes of global
warming.
In addition, meat and dairy products
contain 14 as much times of pollutants than plants do. There are 15 million
pounds of antibiotics that are used in animal production every year. These
antibiotics end up in your body. In the American diet, 95-99% of pollutants
come from animal resources. Finally, vegetarianism may even help
to stop world hunger. Sixty million people will starve to death this year. They
could be adequately fed by the grain saved if Americans reduced their intake of
meat by ten percent.
