June 2025 | My Kitchen Table
- Ashwini Achutharaman
- Jul 4
- 5 min read
Second edition of My Kitchen Table! The sun is shining which means it is perfect time for visitors to pop into New York. Having visitors is a convenient excuse to try more restaurants which explains this month’s extensive list. Most of them ranked highly which means we ate very well. Farther down the post is a more extensive science tidbit that impacts a substantial percentage of the population.
If you liked this and want to see more or have suggestions for any of the categories, comment below!
Fuel my stomach
👩🏽🍳 Inside my kitchen
The protein rich series continues this month with two chickpea recipes and one dessert recipe. All three of these are perfect for summer as they require minimal time hovering over a hot stove. They are also great for meal prep as the flavors get better as they sit in the fridge. Comment below if you try any of them and what you think.
For anyone who says street snacks are not satisfying and flavorful
Crunch bars for adults featuring the namesake of the channel
Hits all the tastes on your tongue made with minimal effort
🥡 my table picks
Click on each link for a more detailed review on Yelp.
Dialogue Flowers and Coffee (10.0 ⭐️)
Lower East Side, New York, NY
Decadent drinks, ample working facilities, and subtly vegan.
Soda club (9.9 ⭐️)
Alphabet City, New York, NY
Five course pasta tasting with a warming, spicy non-alc wine
Cadence (9.3 ⭐️)
East Village, New York, NY
Soul food with all the flavors and none of the meat
Sentir (9.2 ⭐️)
Flatiron, New York, NY
Creative takes on mexican favorites in an intimate space
SHOSH (8.8 ⭐️)
West Village, New York, NY
Mediterranean shareables with a strong focus on highlighting vegetables
Junoon (8.8 ⭐️)
NoMad, New York, NY
Long standing prior michelin starred indian food
Plue (8.7 ⭐️)
Upper East Side, New York, NY
Thai comfort food to satisfy the curry and noodle cravings
Taboonette (8.2 ⭐️)
Union Square, New York, NY
Customizable hummus bowls with fluffy pita
Little Beet (6.7 ⭐️)
Midtown Center, New York, NY
Salad mini-chain with flavorful hot add-ins
Avo (6.6 ⭐️)
Multiple Locations, New York, NY
Another salad chain though this one is just okay
Vanessa Dumpling House (6.6 ⭐️)
Upper West Side, New York, NY
Extremely affordable pricing though limited veg options
Had a few visitors this month which meant returning to previous favorite spots:
Coletta (9.9 ⭐️)
Kips Bay, New York, NY
Flushing Temple Canteen (9.8 ⭐️)
Queens, New York, NY
PLANTA Queen (9.7 ⭐️)
NoMad, New York, NY
Spicy Moon (9.6 ⭐️)
East Village, New York, NY
Rubirosa (9.0 ⭐️)
Little Italy, New York, NY
Beyond Sushi (8.3 ⭐️)
Midtown Center, New York, NY
Tompkins Square Bagels (7.3 ⭐️)
East Village, New York, NY
🛒 grocery gems
trader joe’s truffle aioli → finding anything with truffle for an affordable price is always worth trying in my books. I bought this on a whim one day when searching for something to replace mayo. A little goes a long way, which makes it a great spread or drizzle on top of a dish just to add an extra layer of umami. I used it on top of a sushi bake which was perfect with the sweet rice and salty tofu.
plantstrong spicy cajun jambalaya → i have followed rip esselstyn since i went vegan so when I saw he had a line of products available at whole foods I was intrigued to try them. There are a variety of boxed meals which are shelf stable. They are variations on rice and beans with different global flavors. I picked the spicy cajun jambalaya, a blend of rice with red beans and a variety of vegetables. It was super simple to prepare by either heating in a microwave safe bowl or on the stove. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of flavor despite being a packaged meal. If I needed something quick and filling, I would get these again.
Fuel my brain
🎧 Worthwhile listens
One of my goals for 2025 is to diversify the selection of podcasts that I listen to. I tend to gravitate towards ones that are more self-help related or lifestyle/science related. Here are some of the episodes that stood out to me this month.
Control your Vagus Nerve to Improve Mood, Alertness, and Neuroplasticity (Huberman Lab)
Cynthia Erivo: “I was Working to Prove That I Was Worth Loving” (On Purpose with Jay Shetty)
Matcha, coffee, and green tea: which is the healthiest? (ZOE)
Simon Sinek: Not Every Friendship is Meant to Last - And That’s Okay! (On Purpose with Jay Shetty)
🧪 Science made simple
How does cardiovascular disease develop? It’s more nuanced than the fat you eat sticking to your arteries.
When you eat something with fats, your body has enzymes in your stomach that break down the fat into smaller molecules. These smaller molecules travel into your small intestine and mix with a substance called bile which breaks down the molecules into even smaller pieces. Some of the fats are absorbed into your body and transported to other parts of your body to help with essential functions, such as making hormones. The rest of the pieces are packaged into bundles with specific proteins to form lipoproteins. If you have seen LDL or HDL on a blood test, these are both types of lipoproteins. HDL is considered the “happy” lipoprotein because it cleans up cholesterol and gives it to the liver to remake into bile. LDL is the “lousy” one. If it gets out of check, it can infiltrate the artery walls. The immune cells in your arteries notice it as an invader, take up the LDL, puff up into foam cells, and stick on to your arteries. As more LDL comes in, more foam cells start sticking. Eventually the muscle cells in your arteries join in and form a plaque. This plaque is what narrows your arteries, causing issues like increased blood pressure and decreased oxygen flow.
Thanks for reading! Please leave any feedback in the comments below, and if you know of someone who would also enjoy share it with them. Until next month, @quinoaconscience signing off.
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