Grasshopper Restaurant: Bountiful, Boring Fare

I wanted to eat here because it’s gotten lots of attention as a top vegetarian restaurant in Boston. I’m not a vegetarian but very much a veggie lover. Grasshopper is actually vegan, which means no meat, seafood, butter, eggs, or dairy of any kind. The menu offers pseudo-meats and seafood, fashioned from tofu, tempeh (pressed fermented soybeans), and seitan (wheat gluten), shaped and decorated to look like the real thing. The hectic corner location in remote Allston was a deterrent (but then a Sizzling Platterpreplanned stop at the nearby beloved Clear Flour Bread quickly added incentive!). My friend and I dropped in on a Sunday night and entered an all green cozy-casual dining area adorned with photos of wild animals, a sort of affirmation for eating vegan. Business was great with every table filled and a constant flow of patrons getting take-out. However, we left with mixed feelings:

Strengths:

• Impressively large menu for such a restricted diet, with the majority of dishes containing nutrient-rich vegetables and tofu or soy derivatives.
• Inexpensive, very large portions with most entrees less than $10 and the most expensive being $13.95.
• Sweet & Sour Vegetarian DumplingFavorites: My friend enjoyed her Grilled Vegi-Chicken appetizer that had a hint of meat flavor and not-too-chewy texture served on a fresh salad with a sweet vinegar dressing. I liked the Sweet and Sour Vegetarian Dumplings that tasted like a comforting Pierogie. Interestingly the dumplings contained no vegetables, just soft tofu wrapped in dough. Some finely chopped vegetables would have added a nice texture.
• Creative-looking fake meats and seafood.

Shortfalls:

• Vegi-ShrimpAlthough I credit the chefs for those cute lookalikes, the soy just couldn’t carry the taste or texture of real meat and seafood; most had a rubbery or soggy/greasy texture.
• The menu copies traditional Americanized Chinese takeout, complete with strong MSG flavor and shiny cornstarch glaze, so the dishes ended up tasting pretty similar.
• Vegan doesn’t always mean more healthful, as BBQ Vegi-Porkseen with the many battered and deep-fried offerings. My BBQ roast pork appetizer was slippery with grease; certain pieces were excessively deep fried (if chicken-skin chips existed, they’d taste like this!).
• Most of the dishes we ordered were covered in a brown cornstarch glaze, which made for blah presentations and drowned out any potentially unique flavors in the ingredients.

I can see the appeal of Grasshopper to strict vegans who have limited food choices, but at the same time why would vegans who’ve sworn off animal products even want to eat something reminding them of meat? Instead of mock meats, why not call it true-blue tofu and decorate it into pretty flowers or butterflies? Furthermore, I wouldn’t classify Grasshopper as a healthful restaurant because of the heavy use of oil, batter, MSG, and sugar though it’s possible to get healthful entrees by interrogating the waitstaff and asking for modifications (steamed or grilled with less salt and no MSG). Overall, not bad vegetarian food, just not special enough to tempt a return visit.  

Yo Chocolate Yogurt

I guess chocolate yogurt is made to tempt people who don’t usually like yogurt. Unfortunately most of them don’t taste very good, or they taste too good—more like an awfully sweet dessert. Like those Yo Crunches with toppings of Oreos, chocolate chips, or M&Ms. C’mon, what wouldn’t taste good sprinkled with those treats? But I don’t think you should have to camouflage a healthful food with high-sugar candy to make people like it.

I recently discovered a yogurt mixture that gives a nice chocolate flavor but isn’t drowning in chocolate syrup or rainbow colored chips. I got the idea from Healthy Fit Mama but didn’t try it at first because their photo was unappetizing. Trust me though, this tastes surprisingly great! There’s just three ingredients to stir up: 1) one container of Chobani plain Greek yogurt, 2) a Splenda packet, and 3) a half packet of sugar-free hot cocoa. The result is a thick, very creamy texture that is mildly sweet and has just enough chocolate essence, without turning into a chocolate sundae. One serving contains 130 calories, 0 grams fat, 18 grams protein, 35% RDA for calcium (note the cocoa I used had added calcium), and 10 grams sugar (compare that with 25-35 grams sugar in Stonyfield’s Chocolate Underground and Wallaby’s Dark Chocolate Down Under yogurts). Thus, a perfect super-nutritious filling snack any time of day for kids and adults alike! If you want to avoid artificial sweeteners, use half a regular cocoa packet and add just enough sugar or honey to satisfy your sweet needs.

Marvelous Everyday Walnut Pasta

I say everyday because it’s simple to make and simply satisfying! This super-nutritious pasta dish incorporates a tough cooking ingredient: walnuts. Walnuts are one of the richest sources of the multi-beneficial disease-fighting omega-3 fatty acids. But how to use them? They’re too rich to eat by the handful; maybe occasionally I'll scatter them onto brownies or salads. This pasta recipe finely grinds the walnuts so they’re pretty unnoticeable except for the faintest hint of crunch, and their oils add a welcome richness to the otherwise low fat ingredients. I like Barilla’s whole grain penne, which comes in a 13.25 oz box, but you can use any whole wheat or regular pasta. I also throw in Craisins for a little color and sweetness.

Ingredients

1/2 cup walnuts

1 16 oz container low fat cottage cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 T onion powder

1 T Italian seasoning

2 t garlic powder

13.25-16 oz box favorite pasta

5 oz package (or about 3 cups) fresh baby spinach

1/3 cup Craisins (optional)

Directions

1. In a food processor, grind walnuts to a fine consistency.
2. In a large bowl, add cottage cheese. Stir in the ground walnuts, Parmesan cheese, and spices and mix well. Set aside. (Note: Don't worry if the mixture appears dry; it will moisten when added to the pasta.)
3. Boil pasta according to package directions. During the last 3 minutes of cooking, add spinach. Drain pasta and spinach.
4. Add pasta and spinach to cottage cheese mixture and mix well. If desired, add Craisins.

Copyright 2009 Nancy Oliveira, FitMamaEats. All Rights Reserved.