another one of my microwave hacks that you can do anywhere there’s a microwave. For me, that’s work.
Price: $
Stars (out of 5): 5 for convenience
Take a sweet potato, wash it for cleanliness, and wrap in a paper towel. Go to the microwave, hit the setting for “Potato.” One potato should be 4-8 minutes, depending on the power of your microwave. After your sweet potato is cooked, half it with a butter knife immediately down the middle. Add a slice, or 2, or 3 🙂 of brie. Close the two halves like you are making a blanket for your brie. Indeed you are trying to make the brie all warm and gooey. Open up the 2 halves and lightly sprinkle cinnamon on top!
the microwave is great for cooking sweet potatoes. Look at how easily the skin comes off
There you go. Easy snack, or breakfast, or dessert, or whatever you deem a sweet potato to be.
So there I was pretty hungry, roaming around MIT searching for a quick bite when I spotted the bright green canopy of Veggie Galaxy. And just 2 days before this, my floormates were talking about how incredible Veggie Galaxy was so I had to give this a shot. Vegetarian diner? Leggo.
The diner is super trendy and hipster with an open kitchen/grilling station and outerspace-inspired decor.
semi-suspended booths
Let’s see, their menu has a very wide selection to satisfy a hardcore vegetarian’s palate. But they are famous for their seitan (wheat gluten, a good source of protein), breakfast options, dinner plates, and since I went on a Monday, they had a seitan “meat”ball sub special. They also serve a variety of vegan desserts and vegan frappes. There is a rotating cake display next to the checkout counter.
tasty vegan cakes
After careful deliberation, I decided to go with a good old veggie burger for carry out. You can choose between two types of veggie patties, either chipotle black bean or mushroom chickpea. I got a Kendall Square with a black bean patty. The Kendall Square is piled with 2 huge beer-battered onion rings, arugula, roasted red pepper paste, and a garlic mayo spread on the bun. I requested sprouts as an extra topping, because garlic mayo and sprouts = match made in heaven. At least in my head.
menuzoning in on the burger menu
After the cook yelled “order up” pretty loudly, I received my warm burger that smelled absolutely wonderfully like roasted red pepper and garlic. Let’s deconstruct this burger! First of all, where were the sprouts I specifically requested? No clue… -__- Whatever, I get it, but still kind of annoying. By this time I was already across the street eating in a park so moot point. Despite this minor mishap, the burger was glorious. The bun was crispy and buttery on the outside, soft on the inside and lightly grilled for warmth. The onion rings were perfectly battered and you know how BBQ sauce works well with beer-battered onion rings? Well, this roasted red pepper puree was like the typical BBQ sauce on onion rings, but a ton better and bolder. The puree seasoning was spot on and even had a little kick to it at the end. The chipotle black bean patty was well-seasoned, hearty, and earthy. I could taste the distinct bits of celery and black beans. Arugula was not even noticeable against everything else, oh well… And finally, the garlic mayo, though a bit oily, worked so well in bringing everything together, especially since veggie burgers tend to run dry without the grease and fat in a meat patty.
the pattythe whole shabang
The burger came with 2 sides: a side salad and a garden slaw. Let me just say the “salad” was, I kid you not, 10 distinct tiny leaves of mesclun with a light olive oil vinaigrette dressing/non-dressing because it was hardly noticeable. That was a bummer because I wanted a little more substantial amount of greens after such a satisfying burger. The garden slaw was also a super teeny portion lumped into a corner of the box, but it was a tasty, again I kid you not, 2 or 3 bites. Creamy but not overpowering, and I appreciated the bits of scallions added in to perk the flavor. Next time, I hope the portion of sides can be better!
garden slaw
TLDR: hands down best veggie burger I’ve ever put into my mouth (and I eat ALOT of veggie burgers). Very happy with what Veggie Galaxy delivered. For people who think vegetarians’ food options are limited comparatively, Veggie Galaxy’s creativity and skills will prove you wrong.
Summer means an abundance of fruit and vegetables. Here’s my salad creation deconstructed:
Brie crumbles, almonds, corn nuts, pumpkin seeds, baby arugula, carrots, and grapes drizzled with sesame soy sauce vinaigrette served with crackers and cheese. Substitute with your favorite greens, nuts, and fruit.
So this is the trendy, food-science-lab-esque, vegetarian fast food hub Boston is in love with. No wonder. As soon as you walk in, you can feel the energy and vibrancy of this cafe. The chefs are busy putting together sandwiches behind the open counter but you can see how they are constantly collaborating with each other and conversing with the customers. The customer service is fantastic even though there’s no waitstaff. When I went, there was a lady who stood with a smartphone at the front of the line, introducing the menu to us and answering our questions (since the menu is a little vague and there’s no descriptions). She even gave us a free order of fries with rosemary (featured image) to share. I was confused about the rhubarb agua fresca so she got me a sample right away. Also there was a customer who is blind ordering beside me, and she got a personal waitress for her visit even though it’s a fast food place. Such a friendly group of people!
interior
Clover’s super cool because they build recipes from the community through their weekly food development meetings that anyone can visit. I must make my way to one! The food is fresh, local, and full of feel-good ingredients. Everyday, the menu changes with what’s in that day. I love the “experimental” and eclectic vibe of the cafe. They even have a carbonated water on tap contraption set up!
love the exact temperatures.
I ordered the chickpea fritter thanks to Yelp reviews. Their sandwiches are all made from seasonal ingredients so they are not set menu items. They also have plates, which are essentially deconstructed sandwiches without the bread and served with a little salad instead. The chickpea sandwich is a pita pocket filled with a full heaping of falafel, cucumber, very thinly shredded carrots, pickles, hummus, pickled red onion, and pickled cabbage. The sauce on top resembles cusabi but I’m not exactly sure because it wasn’t as pungent and blended in quite well with the vinegary taste of the pickled cabbage and onions.
the chickpea fritter in its full glory
The sandwich was so hearty and I loved the boldness of the flavors. My only complaint is that it was kind of difficult to eat? So I had to fork it, which was fine, but I kind of prefer my sandwich to fit in my mouth. Also, the way this sandwich was constructed vertically, all the pickled vegetables were on top while the hummus and cucumbers settled to the bottom. So I experienced quite distinct flavors as I worked my way through the sandwich, one with mostly the taste of hummus, the other with mostly the taste of pickled cabbage and falafel. Everything else fell in place in between. Was that intentional? Maybe…
putting my fork to work
My friend got the Panelle sandwich, which is polenta, feta, and lemon aioli. Sounds yummy!
I finished every last bit of the sandwich. The fries were very interesting. The potatoes they use must be different. They are very starchy and sweet, almost resembling yuca. Or I’m just going crazy. The rosemary and salt added are nice touches to accentuate the flavor. Rosemary is a great herb for starchy vegetables because it’s very aromatic and potent, so I think the match is spot on!
halfway through the sandwich. The portion’s very generous.
I also ordered the rhubarb agua fresca after trying the sample because it was so good! The rhubarb syrup had such a fresh aftertaste that lingered on your tongue. There was just enough lemon in the drink to add a kick. The aqua fresca just tasted like rosewater dew, which was fantastic.
rhubarb agua fresca
I was very happy with my trip to Clover! There’s even a vertical herb garden inside the cafe! They are wonderful people doing wonderful things for the food world.
(Eats) By the Esplanade 