Two Selections from Molly's Eats

Chickpea curry sandwich from @mollys_eats #yegfood

A photo posted by Paula E. Kirman (@livingsanctuary) on Aug 20, 2016 at 1:02pm PDT

While at the Edmonton Blues Festival this past weekend, I enjoyed some food from Molly's Eats for the first time. My first treat was a chickpea curry sandwich with mango and cucumber chutneys. The filling was substantial, vegan, and not too spicy. The mango and cucumber gave a delicious freshness, and it was served between two small pieces of naan. This was definitely a "fork sandwich." It was one of the best food truck offerings I have experienced.

Beef wrap from @mollys_eats #yegfood

A photo posted by Paula E. Kirman (@livingsanctuary) on Aug 21, 2016 at 4:07pm PDT

The next day, I had a wrap with beef, soy sauce, Japanese mayo, and fresh kale. The tortilla was stuffed to the max with the flavourful braised beef. It was filling and messy to eat. Next time, I will ask for a fork!

Vegan Buffet at Abyssinia

I was on 95 Street for an evening meeting last week and noticed that Abyssinia, an Ethiopian restaurant practically next door to my meeting, had a vegan buffet on Wednesdays and Fridays for only $15 starting at 5 p.m. As it was a Wednesday, I decided to give it a shot. Eight hot trays featured dishes including yellow chick peas, red lentils, kale, spinach, mushrooms, cabbage, squash, and carrots and potatoes. There was also a heaping plate of injera bread, and a bowl of rice. The dishes were spicy but not overwhelming, and a few could have been hotter in terms of temperature (but on the other hand, that also kept the spice heat level down). My personal faves are the carrots and potatoes, the yellow chick peas, and the squash, the latter having a sweetness that cut the spice. I would recommend going a little later than 5, as a few of the dishes as well as the rice were not available yet, and I was already full by the time they were out. For $15 this is an excellent value and a great introduction to Ethiopian food.

Craisin Paapri and Keema Naan

Craisin Paapri and Keema Naan, a photo by raise my voice on Flickr.

My usual Saturday routine involved a trip to Blues On Whyte and then supper at Naanolicious. I had the craisin paapri on a previous visit, and felt like something lighter that evening, so enjoyed the refreshing salad-like confection of craisins, potato, tomatoes, chickpeas, and crushed samosa chips. Something new for me was the keema naan, which was ground beef and spices stuffed into a butter naan. The flavour was rich and toasty, and would have made a great snack on its own.

A Naanolicious Marathon

Due to various circumstances, I found myself dining at Naanolicious numerous times in the last week or so. Here is a look at some of the dishes I tried.

I have had the butter chicken fries numerous times, so I wanted a different version of the restaurant's take on poutine. Dal, with its creamy lentil base, is one of my favourite Indian dishes, and it was wonderful on the fries. Frankly, I could just go for a bowl of dal with some naan bread, and I believe there is a dish along those lines on the menu.

The next day, I went for a serving of vegetable korma fries. The creamy curry sauce was the base for the vegetables and paneer cheese, which I adore. Very flavourful! And, it went well with the buttered naan I ordered on the side.

I tried one of these stuffed mushroom caps ("Mystical Mushrooms), which was a flavour burst. The crunchy coating was made from lentils, with a garlic and cream cheese filling surrounding the mushroom. More than one would have been a little too rich for me.

The Tandoori chicken was permeated with flavour - I just wish the pieces were a little bigger! I paired with it with the Aloo Tikki, fried potato cakes literally drowned in chutneys and yogurt. The flavour of the cakes themselves, while delicate, still came through, and they also remained crispy.

Craisin Paapri is a cold dish that makes an excellent snack. It is almost like a chickpea salad. The chickpeas are served amongst a flavourful combination of chutneys, yogurt, spices, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, crunchy samosa chips, and finished with a generous portion of craisins (dried cranberries) on top. This would have gone well with a naan, to scoop up all of the goodness.

Remedy for Hunger - Palak Paneer

Oh Remedy. It has been far too long. #yegfood, a photo by raise my voice on Flickr.

I haven't been to any location of Remedy in ages, so when I was craving Indian food for lunch earlier this week I headed over to the downtown location.

The meal was huge! Thick, pureed spinach curry with firm paneer cheese and lots of chickpeas - just to make the meal even heavier. I paired my meal with rice, which was incredibly aromatic. For only $10, this seemed like about twice the portion I would get at other places, for half the price!

Combined with the iced Kashmiri chai as my beverage, there was no way I was going to finish. The next time I eat at Remedy, I will bring a friend!