Now that we are finally getting some cooler temperatures, an evening meal of black bean chili with a hunk of cornbread is always a warm and comforting meal. This is my quickie version that can be prepared and ready to eat in 35–45 minutes.
1 12-oz. can black beans
1 12-oz. can diced tomatoes
1/2 c. frozen mixed vegetables (peas, corn, carrots, green beans)
1/4 c. quick-cooking bulgar wheat
2 Tbsp. chopped onion
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 tsp. olive oil
Approx. 1 1/2 cups water (I use the empty tomato can filled once)
All the seasonings below can be measured to taste
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. brown sugar
1 vegetable bullion cube
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. coriander
salt & cayenne pepper to taste
Throw everything into a 3 qt. cooking pot, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with a dollop or sour cream or plain yogurt. Makes about 4 servings.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Central Cafe: Location, Location, Location
Had lunch last Friday with my co-worker Megan at the Central Cafe at 906 E. Manatee Ave. Located in an old brick building in a historical section of East Manatee Avenue, Central Cafe is quaint with a bit of an urban vibe. Pretty nice. It was very busy right at lunch hour. The crowd looked like it could be coming from the courthouse, hospital, Tropicana and Bealls Corp., all located within a couple of miles. The building is red brick with very high ceilings and was very loud with all the conversation. The acoustics are not the best for such a bustling crowd, which only causes everyone to talk louder to try and hear each other. A vicious cycle.
But let's get to the important part. The food. Mainly they serve sandwiches, burgers and pizza, and they have an extensive wine list for those who are interested. There was a generous choice of vegetarian options among the appetizers and salads, one roasted veggie sandwich, and pizzas. The first time I visited here several years ago, I had the Tomato Blue Soup, a tomato and blue cheese soup, that was delicious. This time I ordered the soup with the Central Florida Salad with the house vinaigrette dressing. Megan ordered a white pizza with pesto and spinach. Unfortunately the kitchen/server forgot about my soup and brought it out after I got my salad. The soup wasn't as good as the first time I'd had it here. There was a strong taste of celery to it this time which overpowered any hint of blue cheese, so it simply tasted like a tomato-celery soup. Not the combination I was looking forward to. The salad however was very good. It had mixed field greens with candied nuts (pecans in this case), tomatoes and mandarin orange slices. It also normally comes with bacon but it was no problem to ask to leave it off. I also ordered it with blue cheese crumbles from a list of extras that you may have added to your salad. The vinaigrette was a citrus-y, honey-dijon and was just right for this particular salad. I asked if there was any type of bread that came with the salad, but was told no, but that I would get a small crouton toast with my soup. There is a bruschetta on the menu that my mom ordered when I was here about 6 months ago. It was also very good topped with tomato, olive, pesto, cheeses, field greens and drizzled with a delicious balsamic reduction. And it is really enough for a meal in itself, although might be a good accompaniment to a small salad. On that past visit, I had the roasted vegetable sandwich with the string fries. It was very good and filling.
As for the pizza, Megan reported that it was not bad, but a little bland and that the spinach had left a strange aftertaste in her mouth. She thought maybe it hadn't been washed thoroughly enough.
I can certainly recommend Central Cafe for vegetarians if you are just looking for a light lunch in a unique location. The food is worth re-visiting, and it's a nice building and atmosphere, despite the decibel level during a busy lunch. If you hit it during a slower time it can be a very enjoyable interlude, and the server less apt to forget your soup.
Central Cafe in Bradenton: 3 1/2 out of 5 soybeans
But let's get to the important part. The food. Mainly they serve sandwiches, burgers and pizza, and they have an extensive wine list for those who are interested. There was a generous choice of vegetarian options among the appetizers and salads, one roasted veggie sandwich, and pizzas. The first time I visited here several years ago, I had the Tomato Blue Soup, a tomato and blue cheese soup, that was delicious. This time I ordered the soup with the Central Florida Salad with the house vinaigrette dressing. Megan ordered a white pizza with pesto and spinach. Unfortunately the kitchen/server forgot about my soup and brought it out after I got my salad. The soup wasn't as good as the first time I'd had it here. There was a strong taste of celery to it this time which overpowered any hint of blue cheese, so it simply tasted like a tomato-celery soup. Not the combination I was looking forward to. The salad however was very good. It had mixed field greens with candied nuts (pecans in this case), tomatoes and mandarin orange slices. It also normally comes with bacon but it was no problem to ask to leave it off. I also ordered it with blue cheese crumbles from a list of extras that you may have added to your salad. The vinaigrette was a citrus-y, honey-dijon and was just right for this particular salad. I asked if there was any type of bread that came with the salad, but was told no, but that I would get a small crouton toast with my soup. There is a bruschetta on the menu that my mom ordered when I was here about 6 months ago. It was also very good topped with tomato, olive, pesto, cheeses, field greens and drizzled with a delicious balsamic reduction. And it is really enough for a meal in itself, although might be a good accompaniment to a small salad. On that past visit, I had the roasted vegetable sandwich with the string fries. It was very good and filling.
As for the pizza, Megan reported that it was not bad, but a little bland and that the spinach had left a strange aftertaste in her mouth. She thought maybe it hadn't been washed thoroughly enough.
I can certainly recommend Central Cafe for vegetarians if you are just looking for a light lunch in a unique location. The food is worth re-visiting, and it's a nice building and atmosphere, despite the decibel level during a busy lunch. If you hit it during a slower time it can be a very enjoyable interlude, and the server less apt to forget your soup.
Central Cafe in Bradenton: 3 1/2 out of 5 soybeans
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Treviso So-So
My friend Katherine treated me to a great evening at the Ringling International Arts Festival last night (since her husband Greg did not care to sit through experimental theater), and she made reservations for us at the Treviso restaurant, the Ringling Museum's on-site, full-service restaurant. I had not been there before but had always wanted to try it out.
The atmosphere is nice enough. There were quite a few diners already there when we arrived at 6:00 p.m., and continued to fill up while we ate. But there was a festival going on, so I doubt this was a typical evening.
But upon my initial perusal of the dinner menu, I already saw a problem. There were a couple of salads, the Treviso (baby greens, parmesan, tomatoes and vinaigrette) and a caesar. Out of the five or six appetizers there was only one vegetarian option, a bruschetta with black bean salad, hummus and tomato-basil salsa toppings. And there were no vegetarian options among the main courses. However, we asked our server if the chef could prepare a vegetarian entrée. He had to go check and came back with a proposed grilled vegetable ravioli. Sounded good to us! We both ordered that and a caesar salad (I'm not opposed to anchovies). The caeser was not bad, there was not too much dressing on it, and not too much garlic in the dressing which I find tricky with most caesars, either too much garlic or too much anchovie; this seemed just right. The croutons were pretty huge and I made the mistake of trying to stuff a whole one in one bite. Katherine assured me that the Italians do this all the time and they just laugh about it, which is what I was doing, so I guess I fit right in.
Then the ravioli showed up before we finished our salads. It was a strange sight as it was about three mid-sized ravioli swimming in a brown broth. There were julienned sundried tomatoes (which I love), some sliced portabella, and wilted greens. I think it was supposed to be spinach but almost had the texture of beet greens (either way, I like both of those), but the broth was too odd, was a little salty and had almost a "beefy" taste, but I'm sure it was all vegetarian. The ravioli were stuffed with spinach and ricotta. I ate all of mine because it was "okay" and I was hungry. But it was not anything to bring me back for more. But we didn't really want to complain either as this was a special, unprepared for request. Although, in my opinion, a restaurant should always have at least one vegetarian option on the menu. And today I went to their website and found that this grilled vegetable ravioli is offered as a regular item on the menus they have posted online, but did not appear on the menu at the restuarant.
We then tried our luck with a couple of decaf coffees, which I think had been sitting on the burner too long, and a dessert split between us. We looked at the dessert menu and of course they had the standard tiramisu, but what caught my eye was the chocolate ricotta tart. Upon ordering, the server commented on what a good choice it was. That sounded promising. Then the dessert was brought to us by a different server, more likely someone from the kitchen, with the comment that this was a nice one to share. Wow! We were really looking forward to this scrumptious treat since the main meal left us unimpressed. We took our first bite expectantly and instead of an "mmmmm," got, "hmm?" I said it tasted like one of those non-dairy tofu desserts, but probably not even that good. It was pretty flavorless. What a disappointment. I think the servers got our expectations a little too high with their comments.
Now my curiosity about the place is satisfied, if not my palate. The prices are on the high side as well, so for you vegetarian foodies out there, I can't really recommend Treviso as an option for dinner. The online menu claims to have a few more veg options on the lunch menu, but just like dinner, don't know if that's what you'll find when you get there. If you're at the museum for a full day, look at it this way, it's better than the microwaved Boca burgers you get at the lunch counter at Jungle Gardens or Lowry Park Zoo!
Treviso for dinner: 2 out of 5 soybeans.
The atmosphere is nice enough. There were quite a few diners already there when we arrived at 6:00 p.m., and continued to fill up while we ate. But there was a festival going on, so I doubt this was a typical evening.
But upon my initial perusal of the dinner menu, I already saw a problem. There were a couple of salads, the Treviso (baby greens, parmesan, tomatoes and vinaigrette) and a caesar. Out of the five or six appetizers there was only one vegetarian option, a bruschetta with black bean salad, hummus and tomato-basil salsa toppings. And there were no vegetarian options among the main courses. However, we asked our server if the chef could prepare a vegetarian entrée. He had to go check and came back with a proposed grilled vegetable ravioli. Sounded good to us! We both ordered that and a caesar salad (I'm not opposed to anchovies). The caeser was not bad, there was not too much dressing on it, and not too much garlic in the dressing which I find tricky with most caesars, either too much garlic or too much anchovie; this seemed just right. The croutons were pretty huge and I made the mistake of trying to stuff a whole one in one bite. Katherine assured me that the Italians do this all the time and they just laugh about it, which is what I was doing, so I guess I fit right in.
Then the ravioli showed up before we finished our salads. It was a strange sight as it was about three mid-sized ravioli swimming in a brown broth. There were julienned sundried tomatoes (which I love), some sliced portabella, and wilted greens. I think it was supposed to be spinach but almost had the texture of beet greens (either way, I like both of those), but the broth was too odd, was a little salty and had almost a "beefy" taste, but I'm sure it was all vegetarian. The ravioli were stuffed with spinach and ricotta. I ate all of mine because it was "okay" and I was hungry. But it was not anything to bring me back for more. But we didn't really want to complain either as this was a special, unprepared for request. Although, in my opinion, a restaurant should always have at least one vegetarian option on the menu. And today I went to their website and found that this grilled vegetable ravioli is offered as a regular item on the menus they have posted online, but did not appear on the menu at the restuarant.
We then tried our luck with a couple of decaf coffees, which I think had been sitting on the burner too long, and a dessert split between us. We looked at the dessert menu and of course they had the standard tiramisu, but what caught my eye was the chocolate ricotta tart. Upon ordering, the server commented on what a good choice it was. That sounded promising. Then the dessert was brought to us by a different server, more likely someone from the kitchen, with the comment that this was a nice one to share. Wow! We were really looking forward to this scrumptious treat since the main meal left us unimpressed. We took our first bite expectantly and instead of an "mmmmm," got, "hmm?" I said it tasted like one of those non-dairy tofu desserts, but probably not even that good. It was pretty flavorless. What a disappointment. I think the servers got our expectations a little too high with their comments.
Now my curiosity about the place is satisfied, if not my palate. The prices are on the high side as well, so for you vegetarian foodies out there, I can't really recommend Treviso as an option for dinner. The online menu claims to have a few more veg options on the lunch menu, but just like dinner, don't know if that's what you'll find when you get there. If you're at the museum for a full day, look at it this way, it's better than the microwaved Boca burgers you get at the lunch counter at Jungle Gardens or Lowry Park Zoo!
Treviso for dinner: 2 out of 5 soybeans.
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