Ordering Indian - How to be a fat free vegan at an Indian Restaurant

Indian Food is our absolute #1 favorite food on the planet.  Back in St. Louis, MO we were blessed with Gokul and Raj's Rasoi both 100% vegetarian Indian Restaurants.  We always started our meals with fried pakoras and samosas, oily curries & oily rice (at least 3 times a week).  When we finally kicked the oily curse out of our lives we struggled how to enjoy Indian Food once more.  Despite many Indian Restaurants deterring our dreams of oil free Indian Food, we persisted and luckily Chandni in Santa Monica stepped up to the challenge.  They will make all their Dal's w/o any oil (just leave out tomatos because the pastes have oil).  We always get Yellow Dal & Moong Dal because its smooth and tasty.  Usually ALL Indian Restaurants OIL the crap out of their rice, but instead of rice Chandni will do the Roti bread with no oil or ghee & you can get Papadam to shovel the Dal into your mouth with.  Always mention you have an adverse reaction (ie it makes you fat and sick) to eating oil (or are allergic) and request they leave out any ingredients that are sautéed or packaged with oil.  Dal is usually just pressure cooked lentils with spices.

Fat Free Organic Hash Browns

Fat Free Organic Hash Browns are a cinch as long as you have the right fire power.
#1. Cuisinart's Green Gourmet Eco-Friendly Nonstick 12" Skillet is a miracle worker.  Its a ceramic base that food, no matter how burnt SLIDES off of it.  You can get them at Bed Bath and Beyond for $59.95 (don't forget your 20% coupon = $47+tax)

#2.  Cascadian Farms Organic Hash Brown Potatoes -  They have Zero Fat and even Fat Free Cooking Instructions.

#3. Load them up in the Nonstick Pan at medium heat and WAIT like 10 to 15 minutes.  Depending on how skillful you are at flipping or how big your nylon spatula is you can probably do a single flip.  On occasions I use a plate to assist in flipping or I cut it into four pies.  Let brown on the opposite side and SLIDE off onto a plate. 

#4. Cut it up and serve with some organic ketchup or hot sauce & sprinkle with some seasoned salt.

You can also do Country Potatoes fat free, but you'll have to mix them up by gently flipping them as they brown on all sides.  

There you have it, fat free potatoes perfect for breakfast!  Not exactly fast, but you'll be happy you made them!

Eating Healthy - Cooking on the road

There hasn't been a single country / remote island on this planet where we haven't found a health food store or a grocery store stocked with organic products & produce.

Here's is just a little sampling of quick meals Kristin whipped up while were in the Caribbean over the past two weeks.  We generally look for lodging with a kitchenette, but as long as you can boil water you can whip up something.

Happened upon some local natural salad greens on the island of Barbados at the Super Store Grocery Store.  The place was stocked with tons of organic products from the states and the UK.  We spiced up the organic chicpeas and the Near East Cous Cous with some Carib hot sauce for a simple delightful dish.

 Here's a little organic french macaroni we topped with some organic peas (from a glass jar) and on the vine cherry tomatoes (we heated them up with some local Carib sauce).  Organic salad found at Grand Marche in St. Maarten (Dutch Side)

We found this risotto mix at BioMan in Marigot St. Martin (French Side) .  We added some chopped up peppers, tomatoes and spiced it up with some local Banana Ketchup & spices.

Native Foods Healthy Options

Since 1994 Native Foods has been serving up fresh inventive food.  Now with 6 locations (and growing) in Southern California there is no excuse for local vegans not to enjoy the healthy meals hidden in the maze of fried and fat sauced covered plants.  We recently ate at the Palm Springs location (First one ever) and the Palm Dessert and met chef Tanya.  Let me tell you these were the two best experiences we've ever had at Native Foods.  I don't know if we've just gotten better at navigating menus or Tanya's watchful eye makes these locations super.

Here are our healthy menu hacks -
OC Raw Chopper Freshly chopped mixed veggies, seasonal greens, pomodoro, avocado, almonds, angel hair beets and sprouts. Served with manna bread and lemon garlic oil dressing on the side.  9.95  Proteinize red or black beans ... 1.00 
MINUS Avocado (fat bomb)
MINUS Almonds (fat bombs)
MINUS Lemon Garlic OIL
PLUS RED & BLACK BEANS
MINUS Manna Bread (nutty squishy stuff)
PLUS SALSA

Gandhi BowlChef Tanya's Tempeh blackened on a bed of jasmine and brown rice. Topped with organic greens, steamed veggies, wild curry sauce, cranberries and green onions.  8.95
SUB TOFU for Tempeh (request grilled with no oil)
MINUS wild curry sauce (oily)
Use soy sauce or hot sauce provided (or request it)

Mad CowboySeasoned grilled vegetables atop a baked potato with ranch dressing, sprinkled with country corn and green onions. Your choice of BBQ Tempeh or Native Chicken.  9.95
MINUS ranch dressing
Sub Temp for grilled tofu (request no oil on the grill) 
The BBQ sauce has a little bit of oil in it so you can opt to leave it off and go with hot sauce.