The Ace Palm Springs . January 2013

I had the great fortune of spending the majority of the last three weeks in Palm Springs for work. We've been coming here in January for the past 4 or so years and always stay at The Ace Hotel + Swim Club.

For breakfast, they now offer an amazing Vegan Burrito, with refried white beans, house soyrizo, peppers, onion, garlic, potatoes and spinach in a gluten-free tortilla covered in both red and green sauces.

For lunch, I always go for the Roasted Garlic Hummus, with housemade naan, oven dried tomatoes + cucumbers.

Or their Kale and Quinoa Salad, filled with marcona almonds, dates, cranberries, caramelized onions and hibiscus vinaigrette.

On our last night, we had a taco party. They set up corn and flour tortillas, grilled vegetables, three kinds of salsa, guacamole, fresh herbs + lime. A great wrap party after a 7 day photo shoot.

I always love our time at the Ace. It's so relaxing and familiar.

Off to Palm Springs...

In Palm Springs this week for work...I'll return next week with some great CA bites!

P.S. This shot was taken with my iPhone camera! Can you believe it??? The hummingbirds are plentiful around here, they're so gorgeous and absolutely mesmerizing.

Angelica Kitchen . Follow Up

A couple of months ago, I took my husband and my parents back to Angelica Kitchen in New York. My previous visit was my first and I was super eager for a follow up trip. 

The Soba Sensation is a great starter to share...sesame sauce ladled over soba noodles, topped with pickled red cabbage and scallions.

For entrees, three of us went for a special at the time - a potato and red pepper casserole with a side salad. It was so delicious - layers of potatoes and peppers all baked together and topped with fresh herbs. (There was a lot more depth to this dish than I'm describing, but since it's not on their regular menu, I can't remember all of the amazing ingredients)!

My husband went for their Three Bean Chili - Piquant chili made with homemade seitan, kidney beans, pinto beans and lentils with sun-dried tomatoes and chiles, topped with lime-jalapeño tofu sour cream. It also comes with southern style cornbread and butternut squash-red onion salsa.

For dessert, we shared the Peach Cobbler - so so good.

What I love about Angelica is that everything is good. Flavorful, complex and always good for you.

Blueprint Cleanse

My experience with the Blueprint Cleanse was pretty awesome. There are three levels of cleansing and I went for the highest - Excavation. I was lucky that my husband chose to do the three day cleanse with me...it's best to have a partner, in case you need talked off a ledge. 

There are four green juices, one spicy lemonade and one cashew milk for the Excavation level. (Everything is raw and unpasteurized). I love green juice, but by the third day, you are definitely craving a little variety. The lemonade and cashew milk are a lovely change and really help break up the monotony.

Insomnia was a side effect for me, because I had so much more energy. And I had a mild headache the first night into the second day. However, that was it. I definitely lost some weight, kicked my addiction to sugar and caffeine, and realized I don't really need to eat the large portions I'm used to eating. Overall, a really great three days.

On a cleanse...

Today I completed Day 2 of the Blueprint Cleanse (3 days total). I would love to post about my recent NYC and Chicago food adventures this week, but it is absolutely not possible. I opened my photos to start a post and it was too difficult to look at food! :)

The cleanse is going really well and I'll have a full report next week! Until then...drink your green juice!

s'mac

Last month, I stopped by s'mac in New York for their vegan mac & cheese. They have a cute little to go spot on Houston and 1st Ave, perfect for take out on a cold night.

You pick your noodle, your cheese + your toppings. I went for the whole wheat noodles (they also offer gluten free noodles), vegan cheese, roasted garlic, broccoli and bread crumbs. Oh my...this is at the top of my list for vegan mac for sure.