I had a craving for a Vietnamese style avocado shake, and three avocados to use up. I think the traditional version uses condensed milk. I decided to swap it out with almond milk. It’s vegan and dairy free. I love the taste of coconut. If coconut milk is used, you might want to change or omit the sweetener. I don’t like my shakes too sweet.
Avocado Shake
1 ripe avocado
3/4 almond milk (or coconut milk)
2 tbs coconut cream or coconut syrup.
Blend all ingredients until smooth. Serve in a large glass.
I finally got around to trying this place. We waited at the entrance for a server, but they must have been busy. So we seated ourselves. It was around 2pm in the afternoon, it didn’t look that busy. Our server came around a few minutes later. I decided to order the gluten free renegade ranchero pizza. The crust was thin and crisp like a cracker and the toppings didn’t soak through. The toppings were interesting. It wasn’t very spicy which was fine with me. I liked the idea of cranberries as a topping. Hubby ordered the one love tacos with yam fries. The fries were nice and crisp and he enjoyed his tacos. The service was friendly, but a bit slow. I will be back to try more of their menu.
one love tacos Jamaican jerk marinated chicken, shredded lettuce, house-made mango salad, drizzled with cilantro lime sour cream with yam friesrenegade ranchero pizza Spicy Spolumbo’s sausage, banana pepper, red onion, cranberries, mozza
I finally got around to trying this place. We waited at the entrance for a server, but they must have been busy. So we seated ourselves. It was around 2pm in the afternoon, it didn’t look that busy. Our server came around a few minutes later. I decided to order the gluten free renegade ranchero pizza. The crust was thin and crisp like a cracker and the toppings didn’t soak through. The toppings were interesting. It wasn’t very spicy which was fine with me. I liked the idea of cranberries as a topping. Hubby ordered the one love tacos with yam fries. The fries were nice and crisp and he enjoyed his tacos. The service was friendly, but a bit slow. I will be back to try more of their menu.
one love tacos Jamaican jerk marinated chicken, shredded lettuce, house-made mango salad, drizzled with cilantro lime sour cream with yam friesrenegade ranchero pizza Spicy Spolumbo’s sausage, banana pepper, red onion, cranberries, mozza
Classic Chinese food. In more ways than one. Place is outdated and kind of a dive. Food is delish and service can leave a lot to be desired. If you speak their language, you get good service. Enough said. The seven of us ordered dishes to share. A couple of plates of salt and pepper squid, half a crispy duck, mixed vegetables with noodles, chicken, ginger and pineapple stir fry, pea shoots with garlic sauce and steamed rice. All the food was good, except I did not try the duck. I don’t eat duck. I still think their jiew yim sin yau is the best in town. Service was slow, but I suppose that gave us more time to chat and enjoy the food. They were accommodating in heating up one of the babies’ food.
Potluck last night. What to make…. How about an enduring party favorite – potstickers! Or wor tip in Cantonese.
I don’t really have a recipe for these, it changes every time I make it.
Wor Tip
Makes around 80 dumplings
2 packages round dumpling wrappers
2 lbs ground pork, chicken or turkey
5 cups Suey choy, bok choy, or other Chinese greens
4 green onions
1 can mushrooms, pieces and stems
2 medium carrots
2 eggs
tapioca or cornstarch
black pepper, oyster sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce, Maggi sauce, Chinese cooking wine
Shred or chop green vegetables. Peel and grate carrots. Dice the mushrooms. Combine all veggies and meat into a large bowl. Crack egg into bowl, and any combination of the sauce ingredients. Add enough tapioca or cornstarch as you mix to absorb the liquid. Have a small bowl of water on hand. A simple way to make the dumplings is to put about a tablespoon of filling in the wrapper, use your finger to dab water around the edge, and fold in half. It can also be done as I have, with fancy folds. Click here and skip to 2:13 for directions. Place them on a cookie sheet as you go.
When ready to cook, coat a frying pan with oil. If fancy folding, arrange the dumplings in a circle and next to each other. Put the pan on medium heat and wait until the bottoms start to crisp. Using a tablespoon, sprinkle water over the top so it steams. Be careful, it will spatter! Cover with lid. The dumplings are done, when the skins look shiny and the water is absorbed. May need to sprinkle more water as you go.
You can also pan fry them, or pan fry and steam if they are folded flat. It is also possible to boil or steam them. In that case, they are called jao zhi. Serve with Chinese red vinegar, 3:1 soy sauce and rice vinegar, or 1:1:.5 soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil. And chili sauce to taste.
Meez-enh-plaiz. I must be a foodie because I am using fancy french words. Reminds me of that guy on Boston Pizza. I was preparing my food for work tomorrow and thought this looked kind of pretty. Organic frozen blueberries and organic strawberries to go with organic steel cut oats for breakfast. Organic celery, organic carrots, and green house grown cucumbers for snacks. Organic red leaf lettuce, organic strawberries, organic blueberries, organic red pepper and pineapple salad for lunch. No, that is not all I eat and no, I am not a vegetarian.
You win if you can identify the non-organic items in the last paragraph.
Do your eggs look like this? If they don’t maybe you should give some thought to what you are buying. These buggers are hard to find. I usually find them at Safeway, but some weeks, there will be none at all. The yolks are orange, unlike the pale yellow of your average egg. The hens are fed a plant based diet full of omega 3 fatty acids. That’s also good for humans. They actually have flavor; they taste like, well eggs. Not cardboard. These eggs are local. They’re grown in Alberta. Free run chickens = tasty eggs. Get some at your local grocer today. And they make a darn good omelette.
What to do with leftover veg? I had some brussels sprouts, eggplant and green beans lying around. Hardly a combination for a stir fry. So I cut them up, drizzled on some balsamic vinegar and olive oil, added salt, pepper and some seasoning spices. Threw it on the grill. The result was delicious.
Roasted brussels sprouts, Asian eggplant and green beans
What to do with leftover veg? I had some brussels sprouts, eggplant and green beans lying around. Hardly a combination for a stir fry. So I cut them up, drizzled on some balsamic vinegar and olive oil, added salt, pepper and some seasoning spices. Threw it on the grill. The result was delicious.
Roasted brussels sprouts, Asian eggplant and green beans
I love the food of Singapore and Malaysia. I traveled there a few years ago and savoured laksa (my favorite), clay pot chicken, roti, beef rendang, nasi lemak and mee goreng. Ever since Tropika closed it’s doors years ago, there hasn’t been anything comparable in Calgary. I’ve had to venture to Vancouver and Toronto for my Malaysian food fix. Then Tropical Delight came along. I have been saved.
My friend and I decided to indulge after a few hours at the climbing gym. We were hungry. The portions are generous and the amount of food we had would easily feed three people. We ordered to share. The laksa lemak was nice and spicy. It contained what I thought was squid and scallops, but after the spice fog cleared, I’m pretty sure it was sliced fish balls, fried tofu, fake crab sticks and hard boiled egg. I’m glad we ordered the wonton kolo mee so we could give ourselves a break from the spice. This was dry egg noodle with ground pork, green onion, deep fried wonton and soup on the side. Comfort food; it reminded me of my Mom’s homemade wonton noodle soup. The roti canai was delicious and the curry sauce also spicy. We also had a complimentary dessert. My friend suspected it was cassava cake. It was yellow and dense, tasted a bit like squash with a hint of coconut. Tasty. Lunch was rather affordable.
They had some interesting specials such as white curry which I will have to try another time. The service was quick; our food arrived within minutes of ordering. Well, we were there at 2:30 in the afternoon and surprisingly, the restaurant was half full. This warrants a repeat visit.
They take only cash and debit and are open Monday though Saturday 10:00am – 5:30pm. The following menu photos only shows the pages with the specials.
Portion of menu with specialsDessert SpecialsLaksa LemakRoti CanaiWonton Kolo Mee
