Restaurant reviews of Jason's Deli ,Red Robin Burgers & Sweet Tomatoes for Vegetarians

It's like I am buying bananas just to watch them get a spotty sunburn this summer. So the very intelligent husband of mine gave me an idea, quote '' why don't you apply a sunscreen on it!! "

Got the joke??

Here's another one from my husband -
On one of the lazy boring days I wanted my hubby to cheer me up with his really perky PJ's.
Me: Please tell me a joke.
Husband: Which one??
:)

Got the Joke?

Yeah the second one was so funny , isn't it? I really had a good hearty laugh that day!

Now listen to this joke from my 3 yr old son-
Ankush, my son: Mommy, let's go to Legoland.
Me: Legoland is too far. We cannot go there right now.
Ankush: Let's go far!

This so innocent thing made me feel so funny about it! So I ended up laughing so loudly. And then my cute little son got to know that he can make me laugh when he tells "Let's go far". And so now he keeps asking me daily about going to legoland or disneyland or India and then I tell him it's too far and then...the same - let's go far continues....every.....day!!! Kids you see..........!!

Coming to the restaurant reviews:
All the restaurants I am mentioning today are kid friendly restaurants

Jason's Deli:

This is one of the very vegetarian food friendly restaurant we found. There are quite a few dishes on the menu for us.
Here's the link:
http://www.jasonsdeli.com/system/files/private/menus/jasons_deli_vegetarian_menu_6.pdf

In the picture above we had ordered Zucchini Grillini Sandwich, Zucchini Garden pasta, Tomato Basil soup, mac and cheese for my son. Everything was tasty. I especially love their sandwiches. My son loved his mac and cheese. They also have a salad bar-all you can eat. Free ice cream. Good service. I rate it 4 out of 5 'coz of the wide vegetarian friendly menu they have.

Red Robin Burgers:

Only one garden burger is available on the menu. That is the only main dish available with few variety of sides. They also have a good menu for kids. Of course my son had his mac and cheese again. Their coleslaw and potato steak fries were yummy. Service was prompt. We especially liked their bottomless freckled berry lemonade. I also loved the interiors of the restaurant, all american feel. I would rate it 2.5 out of 5 only 'coz of the limited options. Hope they had more choices for us vegetarians. !

Sweet Tomatoes:

Don't have a picture of it. But before proceeding  further I would rate it 4.5 out of 5? Why? 'coz my extremely picky eater son loves this place. I do not have a problem of him not eating his food whenever we visit this place. That is probably because of their wide variety of options to eat. It has a buffet system for their kaleidoscopic array of salads, vinaigrettes, soups, pastas, breads and desserts for us vegetarians. It's just so fun to keep getting this hotchpotch of food on the plate. I usually see all the kids getting excited with their plate. They also do have a theme every month. And few of their dishes keep changing along with the theme. So if you are a vegetarian and haven't visited this place, do visit it. Even our parents loved it when they visited US. Visit  http://www.souplantation.com/ for details.

Yeah, so that's about it for now.
Have fun until next .

Storytime: Ankush and his Candy update!

Friends and Fellow readers  dot dot dot
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Easy Peasy Method for Jowar/Sorghum roti and Green Apple Tokku recipe

I have always loved north karnataka food. My husband being from north karnataka ,helped me to explore their cuisine to a whole different dimension. Everytime I'm in my in-laws house, I enjoy the variety of flavours I get to taste. The main staple dish in north karnataka cuisine is Jowar/Sorghum flour roti. Making this roti is itself a talent which I don't seem to possess. It requires a lot of patience and practice to acquire the traditional art of flattening the roti with the palm.
So I came up with this idea of making this roti after a few trial and errors. It's an easy way to learn for all beginners.
Ingredients:
Jowar flour, salt, hot hot water to mix the flour , wax sheets or any other  non stick sheets.

Procedure:
Follow the four step video.(Sorry for the bad quality videos!)

Step 1: Pour enough hot(water needs to be really hot) water slowly into the flour(mixed with salt to taste) mixing it until everything is moistened. I usually eyeball it and don't follow any measurements. Cover bowl with a lid.

(Link on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mAhSDWUQtM)

Step 2: When flour is cool enough to touch but still hot, knead it properly like you would mix chapathi dough.    Take a min or 2 to properly knead the dough. This step is important. Ofcourse I haven't covered the whole kneading process in the video.In this step you can add a little water if required. Cover it and leave it for 5 mins. In the meantime heat your pan(needs to be hot, keep the setting to more than medium heat) and get out your wax sheets.

(Link on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le33ZEicTK8 )

Step 3: Place a ball of dough between 2 sheets of wax paper having dusted it with wheat flour/jowar flour generously and lightly flattening it with your palms. Roll it with a rolling pin, dusting it after every few rolls and tossing it over and making sure it's not sticking to the paper. Dust flour if it feels sticky. 

(Link on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csaaxBKc_20 )

Step 4: Your pan must be now hot enough to make roti's. Place rolled dough on pan, take a paper towel/thin cloth dipped in water. Pat the roti with the wet towel. Once you see bubbles, flip it and pat it with wet towel again. Cook  both sides until done.

(Link on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8topZpaJkc )

It's now ready to serve with a curry and sliced onions.

Green Apple Tokku:

This tokku is a green apple version of the yummy mango tokku my mom prepares.I really love the tangy flavor of this recipe. This recipe could also be done with raw mangoes.

To all those who don't know what a tokku is- it's very similar to pickle but different . You can use it just like how you use a pickle and is also lasts for a few weeks.

Ingredients:
Oil
Mustard - 2 tsp
Green Apple - 4
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tbsp + 2 tsp
Jaggery - around half a cup
salt

Procedure:

Grate the green apple. You can leave the skin on.

Heat oil in a pan. Oil needs to be a little more than normally necessary. 

When oil heats up, add mustard seeds.

When mustard seeds crackle, add grated apple and saute it. 

When half cooked add chilli powder, jaggery, salt. Keep sauteing it until properly cooked and excess oil left out. 

Store in an airtight bottle. Can be kept in refrigerator to make it last really long. 

Note: 

*Adjust salt, chilli powder and jaggery according to your taste and preferences.

*If excess oil doesn't ooze out, it means the oil was less. Do not fret. Just saute it until properly cooked.

Enjoy it!

Until next time, Chao!