HappyCow Summer Road Trip Blog Tour for The HappyCow Cookbook by Eric Brent and Glen Merzer.

Hashtag #HappyCowRoadTrip

Featuring one of Hollywood’s most popular vegan restaurants, Real Food Daily, West Hollywood, California, USA.

By Michele the Trainer, HappyCow Ambassador Westlake Village, California.

I’m a vegan food snob and I love that Real Food Daily is organic. I’ve frequented their Santa Monica since they opened in 1993.  Until The HappyCow Cookbook, I didn’t know they were opening at Los Angeles International Airport (significant as the first organic plant based restaurant in an airport).  I wanted to visit their West Hollywood location for the first time to try the recipes featured in the The HappyCow Cookbook. I called the day before to make a reservation and was welcomed by Julia.  We were seated on the patio off La Cienega Boulevard which was West-Holly-Urban fabulous. Our waiters/servers Jesse and Henry were genuine, attentive and very accommodating of my complicated order and requests for substitutions.

I wanted to try the recipes featured by Real Food Daily in the The HappyCow Cookbook.   The first recipe featured is Real Food Daily’s Kimchi Nori Maki Roll, and while I love cultured veggies, I don’t love Kimchi J. I asked Julia on the phone if I could ask them to omit the Kimchi and she said it was necessary. I was determined to try the roll “as is” and was honestly not expecting to enjoy it.  Surprise!  That Real Food Daily Kimchi Nori Maki Roll and the sauce ended up being the favorite foods of the entire meal.  That roll is FANTASTIC!  These rolls can stand alone as an excellent and satisfying meal choice. The Kimchi Nori Maki Rolls did not disappoint and the Sweet Miso Dipping Sauce was a perfect pair.

Kimchi Nori Maki Roll

The HappyCow Cookbook Recipe from Real Food Daily in West Hollywood, CA

Serves 4

This rice roll has been on the Real Food Daily menu since we opened and has always been a favorite because guests are amazed and delighted that sushi can be vegan. We follow the traditional format of rolling rice in nori sea vegetable, but we fill it with an assortment of vegetables, along with some flavorful condiments. Our culinary director, Tara Punzone, created this variation, incorporating her love of pickled vegetables. We like using some of the exotic rice in the marketplace today. If you can’t source jade pearl rice, white sushi rice is an easy substitute.

 

Equipment needed: bamboo mat for rolling sushi, pressure cooker

For the sushi rice:

2 cups jade pearl rice

3 cups water

½ teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar

1 tablespoon mirin

For the sweet miso dipping sauce:

½ cup agave syrup

¼ cup white miso

1 tablespoon tamari

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

2 tablespoons sesame oil

 

To assemble:

4 sheets toasted nori

4 cups sushi rice

1 handful fresh pea shoots

8 ounces kimchi

8 asparagus spears, grilled

1 firm but ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and cut into thin wedges

1 red pepper, julienned

2 green onions, cut lengthwise into ¼”-wide strips

6 teaspoons sesame seeds

 

For the sushi rice: Combine the rice, water, and sea salt in a 4 ¼ -quart pressure cooker. Lock the lid into place. Bring the pressure to high over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes to allow the pressure to reduce. Carefully unlock the lid and remove it from the pot. Transfer the rice to a large bowl. Drizzle the vinegar and mirin over the rice. Using chopsticks, gently toss the rice to coat it with the vinegar and mirin. Cool the rice completely at room temperature.

 

For the sweet miso dipping sauce: Place all ingredients except the sesame oil into a high-speed blender and blend. Slowly add the oil and pulse to emulsify. Set aside.

 

To assemble: Place 1 nori sheet shiny side down on a bamboo mat with 1 long side positioned closest to you. Spread 1 cup of rice in an even layer over the nori sheet, leaving a ½ ” border on the top long side. Place a few pea shoots facing out on each side. (Allow the leafy tips to stick out of the end of the nori.) Next, place 2 ounces of kimchi in an even line across the rice. Just below the kimchi, arrange 2 asparagus spears facing out, with the tips slightly sticking out of nori. Next arrange a quarter of the avocado slices, red pepper strips, and green onions atop the rice.

Using the bamboo mat as an aid and beginning with the long side closest to you, roll up the nori tightly. Moisten the opposite long edge with water and seal the roll. Repeat to make 4 rolls total.

Once all rolls have been assembled, cut each roll into 8 pieces, approximately ½ “-thick slices, using a large, very sharp knife. Arrange the slices with the cut side up on a platter. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with the sweet miso dipping sauce.

My Real Food Daily order is pretty simple generally. I’m always happy that they have fresh juice at Real Food Daily, especially green juice. I usually order from the Build Your Own Basics Menu; 2-3 orders of Daily Greens and a side of House Dressing which is tahini based.  The Daily Green was kale, and I was looking for collards, so I decided to go all out beyond the basics. For our party of 3, we ordered:

• Kimchi Nori Maki Roll
• Not-Chos (with the tofu sour cream on the side and we did not add the optional taco mix)
• Mediterranean Bowl (with almond feta on the side and with gluten free millet bread)
• The Club (with no vegenaise, wrapped in collards, with a side of House Dressing)
• The Mexico City Tacos

Our other starter was the highly recommended Not-Chos.  Normally I would never order nachos (I don’t do much fried food). An outstanding treat, the presentation was visually mouthwatering and they were decadently delicious. The melted cashew cheese is a vegan winner!  I love salad and the Mediterranean Bowl boasted at least 5 flavors, including Za’atar which is one of my personal favorite Mediterranean herbs.  When approaching quinoa, I always sadly expect it to be flavorless and boring.  The Quinoa Tabouli in the Mediterranean Bowl had a wonderful meaningful flavor.  I’m a salad snob and I encourage you to taste this yummy Mediterranean Bowl!

The Club, wrapped in a collard green instead of on bread, was superb. The side of House Dressing came in a little creamer type ceramic pitcher, and since I requested no vegenaise, I poured the dressing from that tiny pitcher into the wrap and it came together as a very filling magnificent savory.

The Mexico City Tacos, visually a big plate of food, and the tacos themselves were huge.  We were happy to see that amazing cashew cheese again that we loved on the Not-chos, on these Tacos. The beans and protein were different than the Not-chos, (this time red chili beans, the Not-chos had black beans), so it gave us two distinctly different Mexican food delights. We really loved the refreshing lime tasty Jicama Slaw that came with the Mexico City Tacos.

My visit was in the summer and the overall favorite was still that Kimchi Nori Maki Roll.  If you like veggie rolls, you will love it.  I also heard great things about the Lasagna Napoletana.  The other recipe featured in the The HappyCow Cookbook, One-Pot Vegetables and Tofu with Sesame Rice, is seasonal and I can’t wait to return this winter to experience it!

 

About Michele the Trainer

About MicheletheTrainer Michele the Trainer is your Wellness Expert, Motivational and Wellness Speaker, Published Author, Concierge Celebrity Personal Trainer, voted Best Fitness Trainer Los Angeles Daily News 2013/2014. Michele’s success losing 165 pounds holistically and keeping it off since 1998 is very inspirational. For more on Michele, visit her website at www.michelethetrainer.com.

www.michelethetrainer.com

www.michelethetrainerwellness.com

www.engineeringwellness.com

Here is Michele’s Amazon.com author page where you can find Michele’s books, including her latest, Sexy Salads:

http://www.amazon.com/Michele-the-Trainer/e/B0075W9PJI/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1