Veganizing "Friends": It's Pronounced 'Nes-LAY Too-LOUSuh'by Randi / September 30, 2013
This used to be my playground…
It’s kind of ridiculous how much I love green juice. I’m probably the last person (/vegan blogger) who would tell people to eat something that doesn’t taste great just because it’s good for you. But guess what? Veggie juice, when done right, is AMAZING. It’s like my favorite thing after hummus and Ron Swanson. So how happy am I that a new juice place has opened in Philly?
Philly has been screaming for more juice bars, at least in Center City. (At least in my head.) I needs my juice! And with more vendors creating more competition, the prices are getting much more affordable. I’m tired of spending upwards of $10 in the suburbs for a juice that I down in about 9 seconds. (I drink juice fast.) No juice should cost almost a dollar per second! Luckily, the new Yellow Juice Bar, right across from Helium Comedy Club at 2046 Sansom, is not only well-priced but delicious.
Upon entering, I was delighted to see that Yellow Juice Bar offers smoothies with protein add-ins, some vegan food options, and banana whips in addition to juice! Also, adorably, they call the banana whips Banana Twirls. It’s like ballet dancing for fruit.
Philly has been screaming for more juice bars, at least in Center City. (At least in my head.) I needs my juice! And with more vendors creating more competition, the prices are getting much more affordable. I’m tired of spending upwards of $10 in the suburbs for a juice that I down in about 9 seconds. (I drink juice fast.) No juice should cost almost a dollar per second! Luckily, the new Yellow Juice Bar, right across from Helium Comedy Club at 2046 Sansom, is not only well-priced but delicious.
Upon entering, I was delighted to see that Yellow Juice Bar offers smoothies with protein add-ins, some vegan food options, and banana whips in addition to juice! Also, adorably, they call the banana whips Banana Twirls. It’s like ballet dancing for fruit.
The wraps are only $6! Hooray for not-NYC!
I love chalkboard menus
Before getting to the important stuff (what I ordered and how it tasted), can we just take a moment to appreciate those prices? Yes, it’s still a lot of money for a drink, but not compared to what other juice bars charge for the same if not inferior products. $6 for the biggest size is good in my book for a place in Center City. I do wish they had a 24oz. size, though.
Usually my juice tastes veer towards veg-heavy and fruit-light, so I ordered the 16oz. Green Day juice: spinach, cucumber, celery, kale. With no apple in it to balance all the green, I asked the guy if he’d add some ginger so, because I love ginger. He added a bit of lemon and ginger, and had me try it before declaring it finished. I don’t know why, but when he said, “Do you want me to add more ginger?”, I said yes. Oops! It was pretty spicy, but it wasn’t overpowering and I still tasted mostly green. Pretty nice!
|
|
I also ordered a shot of wheatgrass. At $3, it’s on the more expensive end of what wheatgrass shots should cost, but this could have been the best shot I’ve had of the stuff. It was really sweet and had no aftertaste, which in itself is worth an extra dollar. So good. And, it comes with a frozen orange bite, which I adore. I can’t abide places that don’t give a piece of orange with their wheatgrass.
I was nearly awash with juice, but then the two guys working behind the counter offered me a shot of ginger. I stood by the counter and the three of us clinked our little shot glasses and downed a fresh ounce of pure ginger. Umm, have you ever had just pure ginger juice before? It is ROUGH. I mean, I loved it, but it is rough! My insides were on fire for a good 3 hours. Hot damn! You have to try this! It was so nice of them to offer me some after I made my love of ginger known. There were a few other patrons watching as my face and body went through convulsions for a good minute, so that was a little embarrassing, but then I felt kind of amazing. So much juice!
I’m definitely going to frequent Yellow Juice Bar, and I’m eager to try the smoothies, the food, and of course the dancing yellow fruits. Did I mention that they have a bathroom? And it’s pretty clean? Another point! And they deliver! If you’re into that sort of thing.
The only thing I really dislike about this place is that it opened now, after I’ve moved out of the building literally a block away. Other than its bad timing, it’s pretty great. I’ll be going here often! Hopefully they will institute some punch cards for frequent customers, because I love me some punch cards. Almost as much as I love green juice. (No, not nearly as much as I love green juice.)
I was nearly awash with juice, but then the two guys working behind the counter offered me a shot of ginger. I stood by the counter and the three of us clinked our little shot glasses and downed a fresh ounce of pure ginger. Umm, have you ever had just pure ginger juice before? It is ROUGH. I mean, I loved it, but it is rough! My insides were on fire for a good 3 hours. Hot damn! You have to try this! It was so nice of them to offer me some after I made my love of ginger known. There were a few other patrons watching as my face and body went through convulsions for a good minute, so that was a little embarrassing, but then I felt kind of amazing. So much juice!
I’m definitely going to frequent Yellow Juice Bar, and I’m eager to try the smoothies, the food, and of course the dancing yellow fruits. Did I mention that they have a bathroom? And it’s pretty clean? Another point! And they deliver! If you’re into that sort of thing.
The only thing I really dislike about this place is that it opened now, after I’ve moved out of the building literally a block away. Other than its bad timing, it’s pretty great. I’ll be going here often! Hopefully they will institute some punch cards for frequent customers, because I love me some punch cards. Almost as much as I love green juice. (No, not nearly as much as I love green juice.)
Related Posts
Love From Philly: My Grandmother Does the Most Amazing Thing With Polenta
To kick off the next few posts dedicated to Philadelphia, I wanted to start with something I made as a challenge from my grandmother. She’s is a real Philadelphia eye-talian, and therefore she is the greatest cook. This summer, she told me how her mother (a Calabrese, from the toe of the boot) used to make polenta for breakfast in the most amazing way you’ve never considered: fried in maple syrup and butter and covered in powdered sugar. I mean, polenta is one of the most amazing foods ever, but as a sweet food? Incredible! I am not usually up for sweet foods for breakfast (unless we are splitting it ‘for the table’ and we all get savory items in addition, because that’s always a great plan and it’s how I suggest everybody do brunch from now on you’re welcome), but this is something I would happily wake up for. Well, I don’t happily wake up for anything but you get my point.
Polenta frying in pools of syrup
Grandmother said you have to use the polenta that comes in tubes for this (and nothing else!), so it holds its shape and sustains the flipping and the frying. There were no real measurements shared; you just add ‘enough’ of everything so it cooks up and tastes good. But I’ll share what worked for me below! I was very skeptical of turning one of my favorite dinner foods into a breakfast (or dessert; I actually made it for dessert) treat, but what a treat it was! You must try this! I think it’s so much better than French toast or something like that because it can’t get soggy and it’s actually good as leftovers. Also, this is the perfect sweet treat for ushering in the new year tonight on Rosh Hashanah! Add a few apple slices and it would be heaven!
FRIED SWEET POLENTA
|
Ingredients:
Directions:
|
 This is the kind of polenta you want. In a tube. It’s so beautiful. Naaaaaht.  Don’t overstuff your pan; you need spatula flipping room!  Fried sugarrrrrrrrrr  Bubbly fried sugarrrr |
Have you ever heard of something like this? Or tried it? Are you going to try it and tell me how delicious it is? I know I can’t wait to have it again. Let’s all thank my grandmother and Italians in general for their culinary wisdom. Happy new year!
Veganizing “Friends”: Rachel’s Birthday Flan
Hello everyone! If you are sticking with me through all of this “Fun with Friends” veganization, then you know that on Monday, I had a very interesting experience that left me feeling for a while like the guys do in the picture at left. It was a bit rough at times, a bit revolting, but overall it was really fun. And you know what?
I also apparently missed an opportunity to overuse “Friends” pictures. Don’t worry, it won’t happen again.
Anyway, we’re moving on and today we’re going to try to create something delicious for a friend’s birthday. And, with Monica Fallula Gellar as the source of all wisdom, the most sophisticated way to celebrate a birthday is with birthday flan. Remember? From “The One With Two Parties”:
Phoebe: Ok, here are the birthday candles. Where’s the birthday cake?
Monica: Ok, we’re not having birthday cake, we’re having birthday flan.
Chandler: Excuse me?
Monica: It’s a traditional Mexican custard dessert.
Joey: Oh that’s nice, Happy birthday Rachel, here’s some goo.
Ok, all of the Friends were rightly skeptical of the flan idea – who wants goo instead of birthday cake? Birthday cake rocks. I would never serve flan as the sole dessert on a birthday. That’s pretty sad. Sorry Monica. Today, we’ll make mini flans, which will leave room in the belly for lots of birthday cake and ice cream and whatever other goodies want to play. And, since I have about an hour to do this, we’re going to give it JUST ONE SHOT. I hope you are crossing those fingers and toes!
Let’s just go for it.
Let’s just go for it.
Using the above ingredients, I created a really simple custard that we’re going to call flan. It took a total of like 20 minutes (not counting chilling time), and it tasted pretty good.
Ingredients
- 1.5C unsweetened almond milk, separated
- 1/2t agar powder
- 1t cornstarch
- 1/4C sugar
- 1/2t cinnamon
- 1/2T coconut oil
- pinch salt
Directions:
- In a sauce pan over high heat, mix 1C milk and the agar, and bring to a boil. Turn down to medium or med-high, keep it at a low boil for about 5 minutes, and stir often.
- Mix the other 1/2C milk and cornstarch in a measuring cup, then add to the sauce pan. Bring to boil, turn down heat to a low boil. Keep stirring
- Add the sugar and cinnamon. Stir while mixture is bubbling at a low boil for about 5 minutes.
- Add the coconut oil and salt. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes, keep stirring.
- Pour mixture into small ramekins or dishes (it filled two 4-inch ramekins for me) and refrigerate for at least an hour
This turned out pretty nicely! I topped the little bowls of goo with a burnt sugar caramel, made by just boiling sugar and Earth Balance in the same pot I made the flan in. Not bad!
It’s nice to be able to make such a custard in case friends or guests ever request such a thing, which they likely will. Just not on their birthdays! Monica, I love you, but you should’ve made Rachel a birthday cake. (And never invite her parents anywhere!)
It’s nice to be able to make such a custard in case friends or guests ever request such a thing, which they likely will. Just not on their birthdays! Monica, I love you, but you should’ve made Rachel a birthday cake. (And never invite her parents anywhere!)
