Tag

Texas

Browsing

Houston’s Healthy Vegetarian Guide

Houston's Healthy Vegetarian Restaurant Guide | Snapshots & My Thoughts

Houston used to have a rap as being a steakhouse city – a place that vegetarians would avoid while en route to hippie, vegan-friendly Austin. Recently, with the food movement in our city, vegetarian options are becoming more and more prevalent. I’ve made a list of my favorite healthy vegetarian options at some of the best restaurants in Houston. You’ll notice there’s no pizza or pasta options, as I don’t eat either!

Adair Kitchen (Galleria) – Black Bean Quinoa Burger (Lunch), Kale Salad (Dinner)

Baba Yega (Montrose) – Portabella Burger

Backstreet Cafe (River Oaks) – Portabella Burger, Spectacular Veggie Platter

Barnaby’s (Various) – Garden Salad (Without Bacon) and Falafel Patty

Benjy’s (Rice Military and Rice Village) – Curried Quinoa

Cafe Brasil (Montrose) – Hummus and Falafel Plate, Goat Cheese Salad

California Pizza Kitchen (River Oaks) – Roasted Veggie Salad, Quinoa and Arugula Salad

Canopy (Montrose) – Baby Spinach Salad (Substitute Quinoa for Chicken)

Carrabas (The Original on Upper Kirby) – Ensalata Fiorucci

Coppa (Rice Military) – Burrata appetizer, Insalata Tricolore

Corner Table (River Oaks) – Earth Burger (without the bun), sub fries for side salad

The Counter Burger (Rice Military) – Build-Your-Own Vegan Veggie Burger

Harvest Organic Grille (Memorial) – Harvest Eggplant, Veggie Mixed Grill, Chard o Yay

Indika (Montrose) – Paneer and Eggplant Chaat, Vegetarian Tasting Dish

Kiran’s (Highland Village) – Organic Kale Salad, Baby Eggplant, Pindi Channa

Latin Bites (Memorial) – Quinoa Salad

Maryz (Richmond) – Hummus (Best in Houston), Falafel

Pondicheri (Upper Kirby) – Curried Popcorn, Barley Salad, Vishnu Thali

Radical Eats (Montrose) – Knocked Up Avocado Salad

Relish (River Oaks) – Beet Salad

Roost (Montrose) – Fried Cauliflower, Ma Po Tofu

Ruggles Green (CityCentre, Upper Kirby) – Texas Goat Cheese Salad

Uchi (Montrose) – Uchi Salad, Brussels Sprouts

Zoe’s Kitchen (Various) – Vegetarian Kabobs (Hummus Side)

MUSHROOM_BURGER_04

images via Sprouted Kitchen

Austin Travel Guide

SoCo-Austin

 View of downtown Austin

100_4520

 View from Mount Bonnell

Darrell_K_Royal-Texas_Memorial_Stadium_at_Night

 Darrel K. Royal Stadium at The University of Texas at Austin

img_4270

G’Raj Mahal on Rainey Street (delicious)Cafe-Medici

Amazing coffee (love the on “The Drag”)

Book-People

My favorite independent book store

Hamilton Pool Preserve in Austin, Texas  -Natural beauty tourism destinations

Hamilton Pool

Sixth_Street_Austin

Sixth Street

ACL-642x336

Austin City Limits

__________________________________

I’m in Austin today for a UT Recruiting event, and as we have a little downtime (the first I’ve had ALL week), I thought I’d share some wonderful Austin guides:

sources linked via image

Urban Harvest Farmer’s Market

urbanharvestfarmersmarket

On Satuday, I headed to the Urban Harvest Farmer’s Market (Eastside location) – something I’ve been meaning to do for ages and had never gotten around to. One thing’s for sure – I’ve been missing out. Enticing aromas welcome you when walking towards the long two rows of tents selling everything from brightly colored vegetables to fresh flowers, organic beef and vegan treats. I went with Sasha’s aunt, Zlata, who enjoys markets as much as I do. We left with a full (recyclable, of course) bag, stuffed with basil, portobello mushrooms, peppers, flowers (top left picture), limes, and last (but definitely not least) vegan pumpkin pie! I was giddy with excitement when I saw Sinfull Bakery‘s stand (my favorite), as I’ve been trying various vegan pumpkin recipes to little success, and wanted something tried-and-proven on that particular morning. Sasha scarfed it down when we got home and gave it two-thumbs up, which means a lot coming from a carnivore who eats eggs but doesn’t like desserts.

My favorite stands were:

Sinfull Bakery – as mentioned above, the vegan treats (and samples) are so tasty
Pat Greer’s Kitchen – I was handed a vegan sauteed veggie taster and it was heaven-in-my-mouth (need to head to her restaurant!)
Billabong Fresh Flower Farm – where I got my gorgeous flower arrangement
Utility Research Garden – the juiciest limes I’ve ever tasted
Shade/Canopy – I love the restaurants, so naturally loved the booth
Knopp Branch Farm – some of the best portobello mushrooms we’ve ever eaten
Revival Market – a little sneak peek before I headed there for lunch with friends on Saturday

My love for farmer’s markets dates back to my time in Austin at The University of Texas – I wrote an article for the UT newspaper, which was linked to here.

Have you been to your local farmer’s market?

Houston Weekend Travel Guide

williams-water-wallIt is no secret that I love Houston. After moving back to the city from Austin, where I went to college, I became an adventurer of my own habitat. I wanted to try every restaurant, see every sight, walk on all the trails, etc. I also love to travel to new cities in the US, and in the last 2 years covered San Francisco (6 times), Los Angeles, Boston (3 times), Miami, Portland, Minneapolis, New York, Denver, Durango, Dallas, Austin, Chicago (2 times), Oklahoma City, Las Vegas, Bozeman (Montana), and Washington DC. I would always have a fully packed agenda for all of these places, which included food, event, and sightseeing recommendations. I thought it would be fun to create my own Houston weekend guide (Friday evening through Sunday night)! Hopefully you find this list useful.

biscuit-paint-wall-montrose-houston-biscuitpaintwallFriday Evening

  • Take pictures at the Waterwall Park (Galleria)
  • Enjoy happy hour at Anvil (Montrose) – try the French 75! or go to Bar Boheme for a more relaxed vibe
  • If you go to Anvil, walk across the street and take a picture outside of Biscuit Home (#biscuitartwall on Instagram) and check out their gorgeous, slightly eclectic selection of home goods
  • Eat at Indika (Montrose) if you like Indian food or head to Benjy’s (Rice Military and Rice Village) if you prefer modern American cuisine
  • Head to Sprinkles for a cupcake or to Pinkberry (both River Oaks) for some frozen yogurt
  • Drive down Westheimer to Underbelly or Hay Merchant (both Montrose)

Blue-Trees-Volunteers-Houston-365-Things-Houston-Texas-Art-700x357

Saturday 


Beer Can House

Sunday


turrell

Voilà. There you have it – some suggestions for a “perfect weekend in Houston.” There are, of course, tons and tons more fun things to do in this city, but I had to narrow it down. Some additional items include:

Visit the Bayou Bend Collection

Go to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston

Run at Memorial Park

Do a Segway Tour of Downtown

Visit the Saint Arnold’s Brewery

Take a cruise down the Bayou on a canoe or kayak

Go and experience Houston’s Theater scene

Laugh out loud at ComedySportz

Take a tour of Houston’s underground tunnel system downtown

relectionpool

I am always open to suggestions and also would love to help you plan a personalized trip if you’re coming to visit the Bayou City. Please email me!

Picture 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6  // Featured

Save Prada Marfa

I love following Gray Malin on Instagram. His photos are incredible. A recent post brought to my awareness the fact that Prada Marfa is under threat of being demolished due to the Texas Department of Transportation. This modern art piece is a permanently installed sculpture by artists Elmgreen and Dragset, situated about 37 mi northwest of the city of Marfa. The installation was inaugurated on October 1, 2005. The artists called the work a “pop architectural land art project.” The sculpture was intended to never be repaired, so it might slowly degrade back into the natural landscape.*

Prada Marfa was made culturally popular by its regular appearance on Gossip Girl, and yes, I did order myself a Prada Marfa sign for our house (sorry, Sasha!).

The Texas Department of Transportation recently deemed the installation to be a form of advertising akin to a billboard. Given this categorization, Prada Marfa needs to be licensed by the state, but the area in which it stands isn’t eligible for this type of permit. Fans are rallying around this iconic art piece on Facebook. You can read more about the details of the initial ruling here.

Some of my favorite photos of Prada Marfa are those from  Gray Malin’s Prada Marfa collection below. 

black-and-white-original

shopping-spree-color

two-cowboys

pradamarfa1

pradamarfa5

pradamarfa4

*Prada Marfa description