MOMA lunch, New York

I can't really complain. I'm in New York for a month studying all the museums and galleries - what a hard life! However, a month without cooking is a long month indeed. Especially since there are some amazing supermarkets here offering a cook's paradise of ingredients. Sigh. I'm staying in a college room and I have to eat every meal for the month either out at a restaurant or cafe or in the college cafeteria. I don't like having so little control over what I eat!

Below is the lunch I had yesterday in the cafe of the Museum of Modern Art - beetroot with goat cheese, calamari with black chickpeas, and braised artichokes with steamed spinach.

Lunch today was sandwiches from Pret a Manger eaten in sunny and lively Bryant Park - what a treat! Bryant Park is at the rear of the New York Public Library at at 12.30pm was absolutely flooded with local New Yorkers with their packed lunches or sandwiches from nearby shops (Pret a Manger was a madhouse!). The atmosphere was perfect - hundreds of moveable seats and tables encourage everyone to make the most of the sunny park rather than eat at their desks.

(Bryant Park, 2 hours before the insane rush)

In general, food here is very affordable, perhaps slightly cheaper than Melbourne. I'm fast developing an addiction to garlic bagels at breakfast time. But for $1.60, can you really go wrong?!

Vegan Raspberry Muffins

My god. I've finally finished uni for the semester! I can't even explain what a relief it is. Here is a little recipe I made today for you all. It's a vegan muffin recipe. I used half wholemeal flour and added some lucuma powder to make myself feel better about eating a million of them. It's my first time using banana as an egg substitute and it worked really well. Banana is also super good for you, so that's just an added bonus. I should be making some more bread in the next few days, once I get my hands on some more fresh yeast. The only place I've found it is at the Queen Vic markets which is all the way in the city.

1 cup plain flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
2 teaspoons lucuma powder
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 medium banana
1/2 vegetable oil
3/4 cup non-dairy milk
2 cups raspberries (thawed, if frozen)
Almonds

Firstly, put your oven on to 350F (180C). Grease some muffin trays (I used mini muffin trays, ended up filling about four!)
Sift the flours, lucuma powder, brown sugar and baking powder together in a large bowl.
In another bowl, mash up the banana really well. Add the oil and milk to this and stir together.
Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix together.
Fold the raspberries through.
Fill the muffin tins to about 3/4 full. Place an almond on the top of each muffin.
Place in the oven and cook for about 20 mins. The time may vary depending on the size of your muffins. To test if done, poke a center muffin with a skewer or knife. It's don't if it comes out clean.
Take them out of the oven and let rest for a few minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack. Don't wait till they're cool though, eat them hot!