I was on the Upper East Side visiting friends last Sunday. We were all looking for "a little something" to keep us going between brunch and dinner. There were lots of great options for them, like the fabulous Crumbs bakery, but for me, my option was wandering the aisles of Eli's or Citarella (not my son's idea of a fun afternoon) or a Starbucks venti decaf iced coffee with soy. Somehow, that just wasn't working for me. Then we passed a place called Simply Peeled.

This store is an old concept with a new twist. Instead of doling out frozen dairy treats with lots of toppings, they had Fruizo, fresh from the soft serve machine dairy-free mango, strawberry or banana soft serve. Just take fruit, water, and a little organic cane sugar - and voila! It was so good (and so refreshing on that 95 degree day!) I selected a half mango/half banana with sliced almonds, carob chips and shredded coconut. I could have chosen peanut butter, fresh bananas, raspberries, fresh mango, cereal flakes, chocolate chips and plenty of others, but this was perfect.

For someone like me who used to "dine" regularly on Tasti-Delite believing it was a staple in my diet and one of the 5 required daily food groups, this was a gem of a find. I'm hoping the warm weather sticks around long enough for me to walk the 20 blocks from my office and get some more soon!
Veg and the City