I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
Author: ajeanneinthekitchen
I have worked in the restaurant and catering industry for over 35 years. I attended 2 culinary schools in Southern California, and have a degree in culinary arts from the Southern California School of Culinary Arts, as well as a few other degrees in other areas. I love to cook and I love to feed people.
The Tennyson District of Denver is yet another hip, trendy part of town where the main attraction is to live and let live. It is very colorful and full of locally owned small businesses and artists. It is a smaller version of the very colorful RiNo District of Denver, but the same ideas and concept. The RiNo Art Walk
After our healthy and delicious dinner at Vital RootThe Vital Root we decided to walk around and explore the area a bit. It was a Friday night and life was abundant everywhere we walked. Families were out and people were enjoying the cool night with lots of friends, lots of laughter and lots of good times.
The art around the area.
This is a very creative way to let you know that behind these walls lies a bookstore just waiting to be discovered, with minds and imaginations waiting to be opened through the magic and mystery of the books inside.
Creative, local businesses. Flowers on the go from the “Bloom Bar”.
A local bottle shop. I love the creative design of the wine racks.
And something just for fun.
We had a very fun and enjoyable evening with good friends, good food and good times. Yes indeed. We are living the good life. 🙂
You would think because we are such carnivores that we are completely opposed to eating anything other than meaty dishes. Not true at all. We eat a ton of vegetables, and most of my side dishes are vegetarian and many are even vegan. The difference is that to me, they are side dishes rather than our main meal. Every now and then though, we will eat vegan as our main meal.
Last night, we went out to dinner with our friends Janet and Bob. They took us to a new restaurant they discovered in the Tennyson District of Denver. The Tennyson District is very similar to the RiNo District. Dining in the RiNo, The RiNo Art Walk The restaurant is called Vital Root. ” Vital Root is committed to keeping it real. Real ingredients. Real food. Real passion. People’s food preferences have evolved. They want alternative choices. They want healthier options. They want fun, lively, flavorful ingredients. They want a mind body connection. They don’t want limits. And they want to be inspired. Vital Root is one answer to the omnivore’s dilemma.” The food was delicious and the restaurant is all about re-using, re-purposing and recycling. It a very very unique and beautiful restaurant.
Vital Root is owned and operated by the same people who own a few other similar restaurants in the Denver area too. Vital Root is part of the family that includes Root Down, Linger, Ophelia’s, and El Five. We have now been to both Vital Root and Root Down with Janet and Bob. The food is fresh and delicious at both places, with a focus on plant based vegan and vegetarian foods. The ambiance is clean, fresh and inviting.
The menu.
Like so many new and trendy restaurants today, especially those that are calling themselves “fast-slow restaurants”, you order your food at the counter and they deliver it to your table when it is ready.
The desserts.
Once we ordered, we chose to eat in the garden patio. It is an open-aired patio area that is creatively decorated with plants growing on the wall. The wall itself is made up from old serving trays. It is very original indeed. Luckily we had just finished eating when the thunder and a bit of rain showed up. Fortunately though, neither lasted very long at all.
We started off with some “vegan chicken wings” that were actually battered and fried broccoli and cauliflower florets that came with two different sauces. They were delicious.
After our starters, it was time to enjoy the main attractions of the day. Bob ordered one of the woks, which was very colorful and tasty. I think he ordered the Indian Kitchari.
Larry ordered the Korean “BBQ” dish.
Janet and I both ordered the falafal wraps. Everything was very good, but I have to say, I liked mine the best. It was all wrapped inside a deliciously thin and crisp type of crepe.
At the end, we all decided to splurge a bit and had some desserts to share. We had a vegan tiramisu and a tahini-peanut butter cookie. Again, both were quite a treat for the taste buds and were a delight.
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Whether you are a full time vegan or vegetarian or if you are just looking to try a different alternative, Vital Root is a great place to go. There is a little something for everyone. Vital Root is located at 3915 Tennyson Street, Denver, Co 80212. You can contact them either at vitalrootdenver.com or by phone at (303) 474-4131. It is some of the best “fast (SLO) food” around. While you are in the neighborhood, check out some of their other restaurants too.
I still have more flowers to share, so share I will. I don’t think we can ever have to many flowers. They brighten up our days like nothing else. Enjoy.
Usually when I cook a roast, I roast it in the oven, but when the mercury is on the rise, and the thermometer says it is 95* out, that is the last thing I want to do. Thank God for grills. They are great no matter what time of year, but especially on those super hot days.
I have made this Romanian Garlic steak before, but it has been while. It was definitely time to do it again, so here it is. Romanian Garlic Steak. In Romanian, this is known as fleica. I also threw some corn on the cob on the grill too.
There is NO such thing as too much garlic for this steak. In Romania, flank steak is usually used for this, but here in the United States, we use all kinds of cuts, especially rib-eye. It doesn’t matter if it is bone-in or bone-out. The flavor will rock you to the core no matter what type of steak you use. You can also use this same garlicky mixture on lamb too. You definitely won’t have to worry about vampires attacking you after you’ve been dining on this delicious and flavorful steak, that’s for sure.
To get the most out of this steak, particularly if you are using a more fibrous cut of meat such as a brisket, serve it in thin slices that have been cut against the grain. Cutting against the grain means to cut the meat perpendicular to the fiber. The grain is the muscle fiber found in the meat.
Romanian Garlic Steak
2 lbs steak or lamb
2 TBSP garlic, or as much or as little as you can handle
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
2 TBSP lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped or dried parsley
Combine everything together well and marinade your steak in it for at least 2-3 hours before cooking. The lemon juice will act as a meat tenderizer.
When you are ready to cook it up, fire up the grill, getting it nice and hot. The time it takes to cook depends on the thickness of the steak. My roast was about 2 inches thick, so I grilled it for about 10-15 minutes per side, or about 30 minutes total for a beautiful medium rare steak. I completed the meal with a rich, full-bodied French Malbec, my spicy potatoes, Spicy Potatoes with Tomato Jalapeno Sauce tomato focaccia and grilled corn on the cob. It made for a very delicious and satisfying international meal. C’est manifique!
Bring out your boldness, live dangerously and deliciously. And never be shy with the garlic!
I am loving this Flower A Day Challenge. It is giving me plenty of chances to show off some of the beautiful flowers we have around here. They are so colorful and brighten up my day. I just love flowers.
The word primavera in Italian means “spring”. Fresh vegetables are a sign of spring in most places around the world. Pasta primavera is a much loved pasta dish that focuses on the abundance of fresh spring vegetables, though today, it is enjoyed all the time, everywhere, and not just in the spring. Technically any dish that has vegetables as one of it main ingredients is considered a “primavera” dish, though it is most often associated with pasta. The traditional pasta primavera sauce is a very light sauce made by combining chicken broth, parmesan cheese, cream, salt, pepper, and basil. You can also leave off the sauce and simply toss the pasta and veggies in a little olive oil or melted butter, fresh parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper. Of you can do it like I did and use a pesto sauce. I also like adding protein too, whether it be chicken, shrimp, or even sausage. So of course, I “Jeannify” it and make it my own, rather than always sticking with tradition. But then, when do I ever stick with tradition and NOT do my own thing?! 🙂
You can use any kind of fresh vegetables you have on hand, which means it can always be different. And that is perfectly OK. This time, I used some red and yellow bell peppers, red onion, mushrooms, sweet baby tomatoes and zucchini. Next time, I am sure, I will make it different again, all depending on what vegetables I have at the time.
I sauteed the vegetables first in olive oil with just some light seasonings. I did not add the tomatoes until the very end though, since I did not want them to break down. Once the vegetables were done, I removed them from the skillet and set them aside so I could cook the shrimp.
Once the shrimp was cooked, I reintroduced the vegetables and mixed everything together well.
Then it was time to plate everything up. I started off with my cooked angel hair pasta, then a layer of pesto sauce, followed by the main attractions, and more pesto on top. Some warmed ciabatta and chilled chardonnay completed the meat and made for a perfect summer supper. It was quick, easy to make, healthy and very tasty too. Who could ask for anything more? 🙂
!Mangia! Enjoy! Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.
I am thoroughly loving this cooler weather. It allows me to be back outside for longer periods of time, like I so enjoy. Yet another walk with more things to share. The lakes were pretty quiet again but there were a bunch of Green-Winged Teals out and about. These are new ducks for me, or at least newly identified by me. They are not our normal mallards that we see so frequently.
Mom is letting the teenagers have their day at the pool, though she is still close by if needed. Such a good mom.
They met up with some of their friends and were just hanging out.
Sometimes you just have to break away from the crowd and have a little “me time”.
The family portrait. There is always someone who has to be the comedian, and who stands out in the crowd.
If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, then it must be a duck, or in this case, Green-Winged Teals.
Enjoy all the little things in life. They will make your day.
The flowers are so bright and colorful, and there are so many currently in bloom. I just have to share as many with you as I can, while they are still blooming. So I have yet another flower for you today, still part of the Flower of the Day Challenge.
It has been awhile since I have done my Nature Walks series. I have not been out walking because once I got home from the pool, it was just too darn hot. But yesterday, we had a cool respite in the weather, which made it very pleasant to go out and do my “walk-about”. I am very glad the weather is beginning to cool down. I have missed my walk-abouts.
The lakes were pretty quite today, but there was one lone egret that caught my eye. He was just so beautiful and peaceful. He was in his own little world, completely oblivious to me and my camera that was focused on him. I just love the egrets. There are so beautiful and graceful.
Enjoy the day and seize the moments. Once they are gone, they can never be retrieved again.
People around the world have been eating pork since the beginning of civilization. The pig dates back 40 million years to fossils, which indicates that wild pig-like animals roamed forests and swamps in Europe and Asia. By 4900 B.C., pigs were domesticated in China, and by 1500 B.C., they were being raised in Europe. Pigs were one of the first wild animals to be domesticated. And because of pigs have been around for so long pork is the most consumed meat in the world. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States, over 36 percent of the world’s meat intake is from pork, while poultry accounts for 35 percent and beef 22 percent.
Pork is very popular in the Spanish world, both in Old World Spain, and the New World, in all the countries Spain colonized. It is to Spain that the Americas owe the introduction of this valuable animal, as the first pigs on the continent were brought with Columbus on his second voyage. Pork is very popular all throughput the Caribbean as well for this very same reason.
Jerk seasoning is something that is uniquely Caribbean and specifically Jamaican. Jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica, in which meat is dry-rubbed or wet marinated with a hot spice mixture called Jamaican jerk spice. Historians believe that jerking originated with the Amerindians in Jamaica from the Arawak and Taíno tribes who intermingled with the Maroons. Again, the Spanish influence is seen in the new world with the word “jerk”. The word jerk reportedly stems from the Spanish charqui, meaning dried strips of meat similar to the modern-day jerky. A “jerk” sauce is traditionally made with a combination of allspice and Scotch bonnet peppers, which are similar to habanero chili peppers, though jalapenos work just fine too.
Dinner was pork chops marinated in a spicy Jamaican jerk sauce. YUM! I served it with rice, since rice is a Caribbean staple and some sauteed summer vegetables and the last of my Brazilian pastels, and of course, a nice cool, crisp chardonnay on the side to complete off the meal. Brazilian Pastels. We had the perfect Caribbean meal right at home on our beloved deck.
Jamaican Jerk Pork Chops
1-2 lbs pork chops, patted dry
1 TBSP garlic
1 TBSP ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 jalapeno, diced fine
1/4 cup olive oil
salt to taste
2 TBSP lime juice
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped fine
Mix everything together well and marinate the pork for at least 2 hours before cooking. When the pork was ready, I threw it on the grill and cooked it to perfection. Reserve some of the sauce to top the pork with after it is cooked. You can use this same sauce over chicken or seafood too. If you prefer it to be more of a liquidy sauce rather than a chunky salsa, you can mix everything together in a food processor, but I like mine more chunky and more traditional.
While my chops were grilling, I was cooking everything else up too.
Then I just plated it all up and sat back to enjoy the “fruits of my labor”. 🙂 My kind of meal. It was simple, easy-peasy and delicious! It doesn’t get much better than that. I love living the good life!
A Jeanne in the Kitchen 