Decorated in industrial-French chic, By Chloe in Manhattan’s West Village has the aura of a good-for-you candy shop, full of vegan delights enjoyed by a steady, enthusiastic stream of NYU students and other fashionable types queuing up in the lovely, brightly lit restaurant.

The creation of Food Network’s Cupcake Wars-winning chef and author Chloe Coscarelli, By Chloe features Coscarelli’s delicious, healthy treats: a kale Caesar salad, meatless hamburgers and cupcakes and cookies all prepared without eggs, butter, meat or other animal products. The food is remarkably flavorful and complex, a true surprise for foodies who might think of vegan food as an unimaginative dining niche with few surprises in store.

My son and I stopped at By Chloe on our last visit to New York to sample some of Coscarelli’s imaginative menu, including some shockingly decadent kale cookies-and-cream ice cream, a pesto meatball sandwich and a wickedly flavorful avocado toast.

Coscarelli was nice enough to share a recipe with Made+Remade for her variation on that avocado toast, a smashed avocado and beet crostini.

Smashed Avocado and Beet Crostini

Yields 6 to 8 servings

Recipe Courtesy of Chloe Coscarelli, chef/partner By Chloe, from Chloe’s Vegan Italian Kitchen

INGREDIENTS

• 2 beets (about 1 pound), peeled and chopped into ½ inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• ½ baguette, cut into ¼ inch slices on the diagonal
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 lemon halved
• Freshly ground pepper
• Sea salt

PREP

Preheat oven to 425° F. Line a baking sheet with foil.

METHOD

Toss beets with olive oil and arrange on baking sheet. Season with sea salt and roast for 30 minutes, turning occasionally with a spatula. Remove from oven, drizzle with maple syrup and balsamic vinegar, return to oven and roast for 5 to 8 minutes until caramelized.

Place bread slices on a large baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 5 to 8 minutes, or until lightly browned on top.

In a small bowl, using a fork, mash avocado with juice from half of the lemon. Season with sea salt and pepper.

BUILD

Spread a thin layer of mashed avocado on each crostini.

Top with roasted beets, season with pepper, and drizzle with juice from the remaining lemon half.