One of my absolute favorite soups is the zucchini soup. Its vegan, healthy, totally delicious and super easy to make. The recipe is very straightforward and here it is!
What you need: 2-3 zucchinis 1 small onion 3-4 garlic cloves (I love garlicy soup... I also use a garlic crush to crush the garlic) 2-3 table spoons of olive oil 1 can of coconut milk Veggie seasoning (I use Mrs. Dash vegetable seasoning) Hand blender (I have one from Cuisineart from Amazon.com) How to make it: 1. Chop the onion and garlic and sauté with the olive oil in a pot. 2. Roughly chop the zucchinis including the skin (the skin has bunch of nutrients and gives the soup green color). 3. Add the chopped zucchinis to the pot once the onion has browned and softened. Let the zucchinis cook till they are slightly yellower 4. Cover the mix with water to just barely cover the veggies. Add some seasoning to taste. Let this cook and boil till the zucchinis are soft. 5. Once the veggies are soft (you should be able to put a fork through it easily), blend it with a hand blender in the pot. Be careful as the mixture will be hot. 6. Add about half a can of coconut milk (add slowly if you're not sure of the taste) and let it cook for another 5-10 minutes on low heat. 7. Add salt, pepper and more seasoning to taste. You will easily get 3-4 servings and it stays well in the fridge for at least a week. Takes about 40 minutes to make it but you can be doing other stuff in between. Hope you enjoy this yummy soup!! (Big thanks to Joanne Ammerlaan for this recipe!!!)
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To wrap up the evening and the weekend in salt lake city, we had an awesome vegetarian dinner at Zest Kitchen and Bar. We started the dinner with "Baked Zuc and Cheese" and "Spicy Jalapeno Poppers". Both were absolutely divine! As a vegetarian, I was already in food heaven and loving every bite of the appetizers. I was a bit tired from the hike of Mt. Olympus so for I ordered the "Hangover Hydrator" purely for a refreshing drink and it turned out to be a great decision. The coconut water was amazing and I highly recommend the drink! For mains, I ordered the grilled cheese and I wasn't too pleased. Overall, I had a great time at the Zest. The food was good, the drinks were great and the atmosphere was very chill. I will definitely return when I visit Salt Lake City! For cocktails after dinner, we had a lovely time at the BTG Wine Bar. Our server was super chatty and we had some great conversations. I had a glass of an Oregon Pinot and an Aussie Shiraz which were both great. I am definitely returning to the wine bar as well! Next morning, we walked around the city before I went to the airport to pick up my man, Justin! Salt Lake City temple square is stunning with gorgeous architecture built as a tribute to the start of the Mormon religion and to Joseph Smith. Its beautifully maintained with stunning statues and lovely green gardens. I am so glad my buddy, Tony encouraged me to walk around this area. Here are some pics from the temple square: Hope you have a lovely weekend in SLC!!
Second day on Saturday (July 5th) we started the morning leisurely and ate a bagel to prepare for our hike of Mt. Olympus. Mt. Olympus Hike Mt. Olympus is a giant mountain sitting in the backdrop of SLC. The hike is very strenuous and you end up gaining about 4000 ft in 3.5 miles - so its super steep. I know for one, I was huffing and puffing in the first few steps haha. The hike starts at Mt. Olympus trailhead which is literally on the road. All the cars pull up on either sides of the road to start the hike. As I mentioned before, the hike is very strenuous and becomes steep almost right away. I would recommend carry lots of water unless you're into the whole dehydration thing. It took us about 2.5 hours to get to the summit because we totally trucking it. There are many places along the way for a great view of the city and the Great Salt Lake. The hike also turns into a walk through an enchanted forest close to the top with beautiful green trees and lots of shade to save your head from the sun. Close the summit, there is some scrambling that needs to be done. Get ready to get on all fours! Definitely recommend having some hiking shoes with decent traction here and a light pack. There are humans from 7 years of age though 70 doing this so leave your excuses at home. A short but steep scramble to the top was easily my favorite part of the hike and getting to the summit is quite rewarding. The views are great as you can see the whole city with views of the CBD, the lake and more SLC mountains. See the panorama I took! In short, I would definitely do this hike again! Its a nice workout before hitting the bars around town and its a great way to see the extent of SLC! In summary: Distance: ~ 7 miles Altitude: 4200 feet Difficulty: Hard Pets: Allowed but not recommended View of Mt. Olympus from halfway through the hike. Its the knobby looking thing in the center back. Me half way through the hike and my buddy Tony on the summit. Panorama from the summit Tony's action shot! Scrambling over some rocks to get to the top of Mt. Olympus What you need to hike Mt. Olympus: 1. Comfortable hiking shoes: This is definitely necessary as there is a decent amount of scrambling involved. I love my Saloman shoes that are light and super grippy. Highly recommend those. 2. Day pack: Carry LOTS of water and some snacks. I have a 3 L camelback and I recommend at least 2 liters of water. 3. Sunscreen: I am browner than ever even though I used plenty of sunscreen at the start of the hike. Carry this with you and use repeatedly. 4. Light clothes: I was hiking in short shorts and running tank top and I was boiling. Dress less for this hike if you're doing it in mid afternoon of early July like me. Here's how you get there: Hope you enjoy this hike!!
Salt Lake City is just awesome. Its modern, well organized and right in between mountains and a giant lake. So far, I have only passed through the city or taken my parents to the mall. Last weekend for July 4th, I decided to visit one of my college friends and spend some time enjoying the city. It was a blast! So if you're interested in spending a couple days in the city, you could try some of these things :-) We started the weekend off by having margaritas and tacos at The Green Pig which is right downtown and has a rooftop bar. The tacos were awesome. I had vegan tacos and my buddy had some fish tacos and we loved both our dinners. House Margaritas were decent and overall the meal was relatively reasonable. Here are some pics from the Green Pig where you can see my vegan tacos and the view from the rooftop: Naturally, after the green pig we decided to go bar hopping. Our next stop was another bar - the Beer Bar on E 200S street. Beer bar has a pretty remarkable selection of beer and a decent atmosphere. This is where I learned that in Utah, you have to pay 50 cents to taste a beer! wtf!!! I only like dark beers that aren't too hoppy so I bit the bullet and tried a porter before ordering it. I forget the name but it was quite nice. After have a drink at the beer bar, we realized the fireworks in the city are visible from the patio outside. So we sat around and watch some fireworks before going to get another drink at the bar next door called Bar-X. Bar-X is a really cool bar with a great spirit selection and outstanding cocktails. I asked for the bartenders favorite and she made me a "Dobbs Cocktail" which I really enjoyed. They also had a band that day that played various covers including "Thrift shop". I really enjoyed that bar! Here is a pick of their badass spirits display: After a long day of eating and bar hopping, we decided to hit the hay. Next day we were supposed to go hiking and bar hopping again. Look for my next post: Weekend in Salt Lake City: Mt Olympus hike and Evening in SLC!
In summary, I visited the following restaurants and bars and had a great time. I recommend them all but I have listed them in my order of preference: 1. Bar-X 2. The Green Pig 3. Beer Bar Hope you enjoy these bars in SLC!! |
MahimaNuclear Engineer, Product and Strategy expert, Vegetarian, Adventurer. Categories
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