Guest Post: Justin Brunwasser
Justin Brunwasser is not only an old friend of mine and Richie's, he's one of my all-time favorite people and an uber-fabulous chef. This past Saturday, him and his awesome girlfriend Erika came out to Connecticut to hang. I'm shameless and made him sing for his supper (well, really I made him cook it!). We had an amazingly beautiful evening, a fantabulous and healthy meal, and some really good company. All in all, it was a grand-slam evening and I can't wait until the next time we all get together.
Justin is currently working at Friedman's Lunch in the Chelsea Market here in NYC. Definitely check him out there if you're in the hood (there are a few vegan dishes worth tasting on the menu). I asked him to write me a bit on our meal so here he is: (ps- Steve mentioned below is my dad, him and Justin are buddies too)
The Brown Rice Bowl originated from Chef Bill and Chef Neal at Community Food and Juice. There we served a different version with raw vegetables atop a mound of brown rice. We used radicchio, carrots, hothouse cucumbers, and bean sprouts but the same delicious dressing used here. I took the idea and put my own spin on it for Friedman's by sautéing Japanese eggplant, Baby bok choy (which we found in Steve's garden), bean sprouts and carrots and adding edamame beans into the rice. For our dinner we only could source organic Bell peppers, carrots, and zucchini as well as Steve's bok choy so we sauteed them and added english peas to the rice in substitute for the edamame. The point is with this amazing dressing and some brown rice you can take any vegetable that is in season or that you love and serve up a delicious, elegant, and healthy vegan meal. Even little Avi ate it all!
To make this sesame lime dressing take equal parts soy sauce, rice vinegar, sweet chili sauce, fresh squeezed lime juice, and honey. Add it to a blender with half the amount of fresh ginger, garlic, and scallions. Add a dash of sesame oil and puree. While blending add one cup of oil slowly to emulsify the dressing.
Bon Appétit.
Justin
Here are some pictures from our evening:
