recently we wrote a very sad blog post about morningstar farms which included the fact that they not only un-veganized some of their products, but discontinued our favorite vegan steak strips. yep, at the meal starters that we’ve used for years just suddenly disappeared from store shelves and from the morningstar website without explanation. total bummer.

morningstar farms steak strips discontinued!

but wait! it turns out that almost the EXACT SAME PRODUCT, gardein’s beefless tips,  is available in the los angeles area…and probably at your local ralphs, in the freezer section right next to the spot that morningstar farms steak strips used to occupy.

as of a few weeks ago, gardein (the leading maker of faux meats in america) launched a frozen line which included a product called “beefless tips.” it turns out that gardein is the same company that used to make the discontinued morningstar steak strips…and this new product tastes EXACTLY the same! did you hear me? the product we were mourning is still available, it is just in different packaging and has a slightly rounder shape! YES! HELL YES!

when i tried the “new” gardein beefless tips, i was just beside myself. the round little faux beef balls were flavorful, chewy, and spiced ever so slightly…exactly how i remembered my old vegan steak favorite. i ate these beauties in a bowl of vegetables along with homemade tofu sauce, but they are open for interpretation.

los angeles vegans: next time you are at ralphs and want to grab the old familiar morningstar farms meal starters steak strips, grab for a new white gardein bag instead. the taste is the same, and this time it’s coming from an all vegan company—we can count on gardein not to get all shady and start adding egg whites to stuff.

and hey, if you have never had morningstar farms steak strips before, that’s even more of a reason to check this stuff out! gardein is so good, it will probably get you hooked. i am placed firmly under the vegan beef spell.

i can’t wait to put these beefless tips to use in my favorite cornish pastie recipe. 🙂

match vegan chicken quesadillas with daiya cheese.

have you tried match premium meat alternatives yet? this stuff is insane.

recently match sent me some samples to try, and i used their very versatile “chicken” to whip up some vegan quesadillas.

with the help of daiya cheese, this was hands down the best and most “real” tasting vegan quesadilla i’ve ever had. you could serve this to an omnivore, and they would never know they were eating vegan meat & cheese. seriously, this tasted just like the standard rich appetizer so many restaurants serve.

match is a vegan meat alternative that’s so convincing, it’s just unbelievable! you cook with it exactly like you would meat, it acts like meat, except no harm goes into making it. i seriously think that it’s this kind of product that could sway omnivores to consider a vegan diet—it’s game-changing.

if you live on the east coast, you can probably buy match at a store near you. unfortunately for us here in los angeles, right now our only option is to order it online…both cosmo’s vegan shoppe and vegan essentials carry it. the possibilities are endless with this stuff.

gardein vegan chicken scallopini

Throughout my entire professional life, I’ve spent most of my waking hours with omnivorous coworkers. I’m used to being a wallflower at pot lucks, pizza parties, brown bag lunches, birthday celebrations and fancy executive dinners, fortunate to nibble on some fresh fruit or dry burger buns while my omni-workers fill up on stuff I won’t eat.

I’ve lost count of the number of times somebody has walked up to my desk and offered some “amazing left-over” food. Everything from caviar crackers to chicken wings to home made cookies, I’m always the one saying “Oh, that looks amazing, but I have to pass as I’m a vegetarian/vegan”.

Sometimes, I’ve been pleasantly surprised when somebody has prepared something specially for me, like the time the IT guy in Seattle made vegan cornish pasties on a whim: “I thought it would be a challenge, you know”. After I ate all three of them before I got home I can confirm that he met said challenge with aplomb.

What I’d never participated in, though, is the random: “I made too much of [insert non-vegan food] last night. Want some?”. Until, that is, last week when my only ever vegan coworker (the amazingly talented Benny Strange) popped in to my office and casually said “Hey, I made WAY too much vegan pesto last night. Want some?”. Did I EVER.

vegan bennystrange pesto

The timing could not have been better, frankly, as back home I had some amazing Gardein Chick’n Scallopini burning a hole in the freezer, and was already considering some Italian-style accompaniments: The thought of a meal based on vegan pesto (something rather difficult to find in the wild) immediately resonated with me, so I rushed home with pesto in hand and started to cook up a storm.

First, I need to take a moment to talk about the Gardein Chick’n, which is a seriously tasty and flexible alternative to fake meats and, of course, real meat. They arrive pre-cooked so all you have to do is heat them to your taste, season further if you like and cook ’em. For this dish, I brushed them with a little olive oil, fresh garlic and dried Italian herbs then seared them over the grill for 5 minutes.

For the rest of the dish, I boiled some angel hair pasta in salted water for a few minutes, and then drained and added the vegan pesto, mixing throughly.

Adding some steamed broccoli was the icing on the cake, as this wonderful dish came together rather well. Spearheaded by the sublime smoothness of the absolutely amazing vegan pesto (better than the stuff you can buy in Whole Foods), some al dente pasta and the sumptuously juicy Gardein Scallopinis this really was an excellent meal.

I’m really grateful to Benny Strange for bringing in his leftover pesto as it ignited a meal idea I’d never have considered, and which turned out to be truly amazing. Let’s hope many more vegans show up in workplaces everywhere so we can bring our leftovers and trade them with each other. Who knows, our omni coworkers might even learn a thing or two about how wonderful cruelty-free food can be.

What do Fish Fingers, Mushy Peas, Bisto gravy and Smash all have in common? They are all staple foods of English family cooking. Growing up in the UK I would have had one, or all, of these foodstuffs weekly. Clearly, now, as a vegan living in Los Angeles, not only is it difficult to buy these things, but Fish Fingers are clearly off limits, not least because they are made of fish’s fingers. Or so our schoolboy jokes implied all those years ago.

When we paid a visit to the excellent VBites restaurant just outside Brighton on our last UK trip I happened to notice “Breaded Style Fish Fingers“ as we were leaving. A new product from Redwood Foods/VBites (the company that makes Cheezly), these are entirely vegan and looked very tasty indeed. Sadly, we had a long walk ahead and were staying in a hotel for a few more days so we couldn’t buy them on the spot.

HOWEVER, on our last day we visited the mecca (not Macca) of Whole Foods restaurants in Kensington to stock up on some hard-to-find vegan stuff. Lo and behold, as we were browsing around, we happened upon the exact same “Breaded Style Fish Fingers”, and I couldn’t resist picking up a couple of packets, which were very reasonably priced. So, with one ingredient down and three to go I set about combing the store for the other essential ingredients. Canned Mushy Peas were an easy find, as was a packet of Smash instant mashed potatoes:

We had to search a bit to find the Bisto vegetarian gravy granules, but once we had them, our evil plan to smuggle the ingredients back to Los Angeles to cook a traditional English meal — but vegan — was complete!

Back Stateside, preparing the food took about 5 minutes – pour hot water on the potatoes and gravy, heat the peas in a saucepan and pop the fish fingers under the broiler. The food was so easy to cook that I realized for the first time why my culinary-challenged mother made it for me so much while I was growing up.

While the gravy, mashed potatoes and mushy peas were excellent and reminded me of home, the best thing about the meal was the “Fish Fingers”, often called “Fish Sticks” in America. They were crispy on the outside, soft and moist on the inside and with a distinct texture that wasn’t pretending to be real fish. I could have eaten the entire package, but had to restrain myself so I’d have room for a traditional English veganized after-dinner treat. But that’s an entirely different story.

I hope that Redwood Foods/VBites bring their entire line of vegan food to the USA, and that this will give omnivores and vegetarians more reason to make the switch to being vegan.

i am loving gardein’s new vegan frozen food line, and finally it’s available in los angeles. i’ve already told you all about the amazing spicy buffalo wings, so today it’s all about chick’n good stuff.

this little meal comes in packs of two and is basically a vegan take on stuffed chicken, complete with marinara sauce and daiya cheese in the middle. i topped mine with even more daiya cheese that i had on hand, and served it up with roasted brussels sprouts and collard greens.

on bite of this thing, and i was SOLD. the crispy bread crumb coating was garlicky and flavorful, and the vegan chicken was moist and perfectly chewy. as soon as i cut into it, rich daiya cheese and marinara sauce oozed out of it all over the place. the sauce was awesome, and i’m sure you already know how amazing daiya is. i’ve never had a vegan frozen product this tasty….seriously!

each stuffed chick’n is definitely enough for a 1 person meal…i even had a bit left over. these things pack so much decadent taste, i couldn’t believe it when i picked up the package and saw they only contain 210 calories each! i know i will be eating these on a regular basis.

oh and it looks like i CAN be eating these on a regular basis, because they are available at ralphs! i’d never seen gardein at a normal supermarket before, so i was pleasantly surprised when i saw their entire frozen line in stock at ralphs in hollywood yesterday. and at just under $4.50 per bag, the price is right as well.

come on, it’s VEGAN CHICKEN stuffed with VEGAN CHEESE….available at the grocery store!!!! i never thought i’d see the day!

gardein classic style buffalo wings.

this fall, gardein is launching a new frozen line all over the united states & canada, so keep an eye out for their products coming to a whole foods near you. if you live on the east coast, you may have already seen this stuff. gardein sent me a sampling of their new line to try out, and i immediately fell in love with their classic style buffalo wings. spicy, tangy, moist and chewy, these bite-sized snacks were everything you could want in a meaty appetizer. they packed a lot of heat, and went down perfectly with cool and creamy vegenaise dip.

being a vegan is super easy with companies like gardein around to create cruelty-free versions of old meaty favorites. stay tuned for more gardein products coming soon to a freezer near you. and if you spot these wings when you are out grocery shopping, trust me, YOU GOTTA TRY ‘EM. i am gonna buy up bags of these wings as soon as i have the chance.

i’m sad to report that one of my (previously) favorite fake meat brands has started being awfully cunty lately. morningstar farms has recently added both MILK AND EGGS to several of their formally vegan products.

one of my favorite foods to be completely ruined by morningstar farms, was the meal starter crumbles. these things were perfect in any recipe that called for ground meat, and until recently they were vegan. then, without warning and without changing the packaging, morningstar farms added both skim milk and egg whites to the ingredients. gross, right? yeah.

morningstar farms has added milk & eggs to thier vegan crumbles!

to make matters even worse, when morningstar farms wasn’t busy de-veganizing stuff, they were discontinuing other wonderful vegan products. like the meal starter steak strips, GONE. i used these strips all the time…in stir frys, in cornish pasties, in burritos, you name it. no more.

morningstar farms steak strips discontinued!

this whole situation is pretty upsetting to me, and i probably won’t be buying much morningstar farms stuff in the future. if the crumbles are trashed, and the steak strips are gone, what else can they really offer me? if you buy morningstar farms products, i highly suggest you triple check the ingredients to make sure they haven’t snuck in any animal discharge.

there is a thread going about this topic over on vegweb, complete with a response from the company that really doesn’t make me feel any better. buyer beware!

oh, and special thanks to commenter Bil for bringing this all to my attention. you rock.

Following three years of eating out on LA’s vegan restaurant scene we thought it would be good to come up with a “top list” of the establishments we, and the commenters on this esteemed blog, thought were really good. Check out the end for honorable mentions, restaurants that didn’t quite make the list. Want to bump a mention off the list, or add your own? Please comment. Don’t be shy. We had to start somewhere.

Madeleine Bistro

Advice when visiting Madeline Bistro: Sit facing away from the window and forget that you walked past the exotic lingerie store a few doors down, after an excruciatingly long drive from pretty much wherever you live. If you can suspend the belief of where you are and how you got there for long enough, you’ll enjoy some of the most incredible vegan food on the West Coast, and probably in the world.

porcini-crusted tofu benedict at madeleine bistro.

Chef Dave Anderson has spared no expense or time in thinking through and preparing the most minute details of every menu item. From a doughnut that is so light and fluffy it practically levitates, to a veganized carbon-copy emulation of a Big Mag (which I’m told by omnivores tastes way, way better than the real thing), through magical soufflés and German Mac ‘n’ Cheese (complete with Bacon bits!) you are certain to delight in the experience of fine vegan dining with a menu as inventive as it is familiar. Every dish at Madeleine’s has that “HOW DO THEY DO THIS?” question mark hanging over it. Dave Anderson is a culinary genius, and we should all be glad he decided to practice his art on us vegans.

Stuff I Eat

Situated on a quiet street a block from busy Manchester Blvd. on the edge of Inglewood is an absolute gem of a vegan restaurant: Stuff I Eat. With an eclectic menu of options spanning the gamut from soul food through Mexican-inspired and down to earth, honest to goodness, American-style favorites, Stuff I Eat excels in every category. The staff are all so helpful, polite and caring that one feels grateful to be in ‘their’ restaurant. The portions are HUGE, and the quality of every food item, from the way it looks to the way it tastes cannot be overstated.

part of the soul food platter at stuff i eat

Feeling hungry? The $18 “Organic Soul Food Platter” will fill you up, as well as one or two of your guests. The burritos are to die for (how many burritos have fresh, steamed broccoli topping them?). Any place that has a menu item called “Sumthin-Sumthin”, makes its own dressings from scratch every day and serves a $5 taco with so much filling that they throw in an extra tortilla so you can “make two out of one” clearly has an appreciation of food. If you have the same (or even if you don’t), Stuff I Eat will be some of the best Stuff you will EVER Eat.

Vinh Loi Tofu

Kevin Tran, the chef/owner/cashier of Vinh Loi Tofu is probably the King of Los Angeles vegan cuisine. Sitting on his throne behind the counter at Vinh Loi Tofu, he rules his mini-kingdom of obedient, smiling tofu-preparing workers who create some of the most stunning vegan food in town. In his modest Reseda restaurant (about the size of a donut shop!) he manages to squeeze in not only a tofu factory but also a kitchen that prepares no less than 126 vegan specialty menu items, along with several “new inventions” that Kevin has cooked up to try out on us unsuspecting, but very lucky, vegans.

ham sub at vinh loi tofu

With so many menu items it’s really hard to choose favorites (and, to be fair, I try to mix up what I order, but in a lifetime one can only scratch the surface of Kevin’s creativity). Signature dishes we see people ordering time and time again include the Banh Mi subs (of which there are 13 varieties) ranging between $4.50 and and extortionate $6! Kevin’s tofu and fake meats blend perfectly with fresh vegetables in his soups, stir fries, teriyaki noodles and salads. If you’re feeling really adventurous, just ask him for his “special of the day”. You won’t be sorry.

Pure Luck

On our first visit to Pure Luck, we were intrigued to watch a tattooed dude (who we later discovered was Ben, the guy who dreamed up the establishment) wheeling a toilet through a busy restaurant and out of the door. He returned to climb, precariously, above the food area while he installed a WiFi access point suspended from the ceiling by green cables, that’s still there to this day. While this entertainment was going on, my friends and I got quietly drunk on craft beer, and full of potato pals, followed by several plates of fresh salads, rolls with exotic ingredients and burritos. Pure luck doesn’t quite have the atmosphere of a bar, but you can squint your eyes and fake it real easy, with at least 10 beers on tap and an endless supply of comfort food you can’t go wrong.

angélica’s garbanzo salad sandwich with potato pals at pure luck

Must-have dishes are the jackfruit-anything (especially the Todd’s BBQ Sandwich or Torta), Fresh Noodle Salad and the deep fried stuff (Potato Pals, Rosemary Fries, Sweet Potato Fries). The Tofu Pesto Sandwich is also an excellent choice, arriving on a crusty, fresh La Brea Bakery roll. Chow on some great bar food, drink some of LA’s finest beers and smile in the haze of how great it is to be vegan in this day and age. Thanks, Pure Luck, for all the good times.

Oh, and the toilet was abandoned in the parking lot by the dumpster when we left.

Shojin

I recall hanging out as a teenager in the Tokyo district of Akihabara, where bright lights, video arcades and electronics stores are punctuated only by sushi bars and upscale dining. The shopping mall in Little Tokyo (just south of Downtown LA) contains all of the above plus an amazing find if you trudge to the top of the escalator: Shojin Restaurant. to call this place “fine dining” would be an understatement. Hand polished silverware resting on starched tablecloths await your vegan self. Nuvo-Japonaise decor and Frank Sinatra on the speakers round out this most eclectic of dining experiences. Your shy, yet overly-attentive and awkwardly chatty serving staff will do whatever it takes for you to have a great time, as plate upon plate of amazing food spirits itself out of the kitchen to your pristine table.

vegan dragon roll at shojin

Whether you go for the sushi (with seitan, tofu and other faux-fish accoutrements), the pan-fried seitan stir-fry or the incredibly tasty hand-made deserts you will know that such care has been put into preparing your food with prime, organic ingredients that you just can’t go wrong. Order as much stuff as you like — the portions are small, but the taste is big.

Honorable mentions: A Taste Of Life, Native Foods, Veggie Grill, Casa De Tree, Cru, Flore, Cafe Flourish, Rahel’s, and Seed

Check back tomorrow, for our list of the top five vegetarian restaurants that are vegan friendly.

kid size temptation soft serve from chicago soy dairy with vegan chocolate chips. $2.75

summer time is officially here, and that means it’s ice cream season! as the weather in los angeles heats up to apocalyptic temperatures, don’t let the fact that you’re a vegan stop you from indulging in a cool, creamy treat. head on over to carvel ice cream in west LA and pick up some of their delicious temptation vegan soft serve from none other than the folks at chicago soy dairy. that’s right, carvel is the first place in los angeles to carry this tasty and realistic non-dairy soft serve from the company that brought us teese and dandies.

i stopped by carvel recently, and when i told the girl behind the counter i was vegan, she was very friendly and accommodating. she pointed me to a selection of vegan sorbets, vegan toppings, and gave me a sample of vanilla non-dairy soft serve. that’s right, the elusive VEGAN SOFT SERVE. since it’s so hard to find in this city, of course i had to get some. i ordered a kid-size portion and topped it off with vegan chocolate chips. yum……it totally hit the spot! i wasn’t sure at the time, but later i found out that the soft serve i ate was indeed temptation, stuff i have been hearing about from vegans across the country for quite some time. i am so glad that this stuff has made it over to los angeles, because it’s so ridiculously creamy and “real” tasting.

the girl also explained that they’d be getting even more vegan soft serve flavors in by the end of the month…so that pretty much seals it, i know i will be back at carvel very soon. i have heard the chocolate temptation soft serve is THE BEST.

in addition to temptation vegan ice cream and friendly employees, carvel also has lovely balcony seating and 3 levels of free parking. it’s located on the top floor next to ralphs on pico in west LA, so don’t miss it. carvel is a great place to unwind with some old fashioned soft serve and take a break from the summer heat. i haven’t eaten ice cream like this since i was a kid…and it’s vegan!

carvel ice cream
9618 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90035
(310) 278-5411

it was a super eco-friendly day in los angeles as hippies, vegans and all around earth lovers gathered to partake in worldfest, “a solar-powered celebration of music, the environment, animals and humanity.” basically a big grassy field in the valley was fenced off and people were charged 7 bucks (+ $5 for parking) to hear to jam bands, listen to animal activist speakers, and have the opportunity to purchase a wide variety of all vegan food and alcohol. i went for a couple hours today and didn’t spend much time with the speakers or the music…i did get my fill of food though, and that’s what i’m here to tell ya about.

wordfest vegan corn dog. $3.50

between the two of us, my husband and i murdered a lot of vegan goodies. one of my favorites was a corn dog offered up by a stand selling field roast sausages, tofurky links, curly fries and vegan burgers. the corn dog was a standard veggie dog turned spectacular with corn batter and a deep fryer. this was nothing like your out-of-the-freezer family meal corn dogs…this thing was just like the old school hot dog on a stick meals i used to get at my local mall. the batter formed a crispy and almost burnt layer on the outside which surrounded fluffy moist corn bread and finally a plump and juicy soy dog. this totally brought back childhood memories.

we also tried the vegan chicken curry from the bodhi tree stand, which was excellent. the bodhi tree is a vegetarian restaurant located in huntington beach, and after eating their curry, i know i will be making a trip there very soon. the sauce was sweet with a perfectly subtle spiciness, and the soy meat was thick and juicy. all the vegetables were fresh and well-prepared as well, and they had so many other appetizing dishes i didn’t even get to try.

bodhi tree vegan curry chicken. $7

the chicken sandwich from follow your heart was another high point of the festival—at only 5 bucks it was a total steal, considering it was huge and came with a side of greens and potato salad. we interrogated the booth about the ingredients in the bun (normal follow your heart buns contain honey), and they ensured us that not only were these special vegan buns ordered just for worldfest, but that their restaurant buns may soon no longer contain honey either! (we will try to keep you posted on that.) aside from the bun, the sandwich was awesome and extremely well priced. the bbq sauce was mild and tangy, not overwhelmingly sweet, and the slices of soy meat were thick and hearty. the potato salad was on point as well: soft and creamy yet not too full of vegenaise. total perfection.

follow your heart vegan chicken bbq sandwich with potato salad. $5

for dessert, we rounded off the feasting with some maggie mudd ice cream all the way from san francisco. they offered a whopping bowl filled up with ice cream, chocolate sauce, nuts, sprinkles and whipped cream (ALL VEGAN) for just $7. it came with the choice of three flavors, but i stuck to two: memphis mudd pie (coffee flavor with chocolate cookies, fudge swirl and whiskey) and tarmack (chocolate peanut butter flavor with chocolate cookies and peanut butter swirl). the ice cream itself was extremely decadent, and it came with the most amazing toppings….this has to be the best old-fashioned dessert i’ve had since i was a child. no vegan ice cream has anything on maggie mudd; this stuff was so good, i’m considering a move to SF.

big bowl: tarmack and memphis mudd ice cream topped with whipped cream, nuts, chocolate sauce and sprinkles

to top it all off, worldfest had a bad ass beer garden serving up $5 pints of lagunitas ipa and $10 bottles of double ipa. that made coachella’s beer garden look like a total shithole. i’m telling you, this beer was off the chain. not only was it well priced, this stuff was hoppy and flavorful as hell…i’d be stoked to get brew this good in a bar, so imagine how thrilled i was to drink it at a sweaty festival in the valley.

lagunitas double ipa

although i did try a lot of great stuff at worldfest this year, i can only eat so much…so naturally i missed out on tons of vendors. i wanna give some shout outs to places that looked delicious, yet i was way too stuffed to try. to name a few: luscious organic desserts, c’est la v bakeshop, friedel caribbean cuisine and sunpower cafe. the frankenstand was also supposed to make an appearance, but to everyone’s dismay, ended up cancelling. basically what i am trying to say is, even with all the ridiculously tasty vegan food i got to eat today, it was still just the tip of the iceberg. worldfest is apparently THE PLACE to get your vegan eats on—i’m talking several entirely animal-free stands with stuff ranging from salads, to burgers, to fried foods, to desserts including ice cream, cookies, funnel cakes, and cobbler.

word to the wise: save up for worldfest 2010. the amazing food will make all the bitchy fees and unhealthy calories worth it. i’ve never seen so much food i can eat in one place, it made me feel like an omnivore…in a good way!

it’s no secret that we don’t really celebrate xmas. to me it’s just an annoying holiday when the bars and vegan restaurants are closed. however, that doesn’t stop me from taking the day off work and filling up on holiday-themed food. it also doesn’t stop my awesome parents from buying us tons of gifts. 🙂

this year on xmas day, my husband and i attended a slap-up vegan holiday party, meaning we couldn’t have dinner with my parents until the next day. we decided to invite them around to our place on boxing day for an informal vegan celebration. we provided the main course and desserts, they brought us some side dishes and some unexpected gifts. it was awesome.

one dozen vegan twinkies from no whey vegan baking. 6 regular flavored, 6 red velvet with cream cheese frosting.

we went a little over board with dessert, and ordered 12 twinkies from no whey vegan baking. needless to say, there were tons left over and we sent my parents home with a whole container full. everyone loved them, especially my dad who has been dying to try a vegan twinkie for like 6 months. while the normal yellow cake with white frosting filling variety was well received, my new favorite is definitely the red velvet twinkie. the cake is moist and insanely decadent, and the filling isn’t frosting, but instead vegan cream cheese. absolutely delicious.

red velvet cake with a cream cheese filling

for a main dish, we cooked up a standard tofurky. although i prefer the celebration roast, which we made on thanksgiving, the tofurky was only $7.99 at the santa monica co-op. you can’t beat that price.

tofurky!

my parents brought with them some wonderful sides including the quarrygirl recipe for potato salad, and a broccoli salad that my mom veganized. you can see the original broccoli salad recipe here.

vegan broccoli salad with raisins, vegenaise, "bacon" bits and onion.

in addition to food, my parents also brought with them some surprise presents. thanks mom and dad! knowing what fans we are of veganomicon, they brought us isa chandra moskowitz’s other two wildly successful cookbooks: vegan with a vengeance and vegan cupcakes take over the world. yay!

vegan cookbooks! w00t!

they also brought us some shirts in honor of the quarrygirl.com mascot, tofu robot. check out the cool t’s they found online at spicy brown.

tofu robot clothing from spicy brown.

so overall, it was a great feast with some extraordinary vegan twinkies and some vegan gift surprises. a fine, fine holiday indeed.

as a vegan, i am always looking for the perfect snack. it’s easy to find ubiquitous junk food items that don’t contain animal products (i’m talking to you, oreos!), but are full of scary ingredients that are hazardous to my health. for so long, i have been looking for an indulgence item that makes me feel like i am living it up, but not eating something that is gonna kill me. enter nutty steph’s. nutty steph’s is a vermont-based company making healthy, organic granola that tastes so decadent, it can compete with any household junk food.

nutty steph's vermont granola, nutty steph's trail mix, and cookies made with nutty steph's ingredients

steph started selling her granola in 2003, when she was only 23 years old, and had no knowledge of commercial food production. what she lacked in age, however, she made up for in creativity and over the past five years her granola has gained tons of respect from buyers and chefs alike. and even more importantly, i love it! her granola is so packed with flavor, i almost don’t want to sprinkle it on top of anything. i’ve never tasted a “healthy” snack that is so perfect straight out of the bag. sweet, slightly salty, and above all, nutty, this granola is beyond delish.

nutty steph's vermont granola: organic oats, pure vermont maple syrup, sunflower oil, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, vanilla extract and sea salt.

and, nutty steph’s granola can be used in various recipes. steph even has a whole category dedicated on on her website to the various uses for the granola. since i am a vegan, i decided to put the granola to the ultimate test and use it a recipe from veganomicon, the ultimate vegan cookbook. i made a recipe i already knew to be delicious, the chocolate-chocolate chip-walnut cookies, and substituted nutty steph’s granola for the actual nuts. i also used nutty steph’s magic chunks for 1/3 of the chocolate chips called for in the recipe. i can tell you, these cookies have never tasted so delicious. the delicate blend of sweet sugary oats and pure nut flavoring added more to the cookies than i could have imagined. these were so much better than the cookies with walnuts.

veganomicon's chocolate-chocolate chip-walnut cookies using nutty steph's vermont granola and magic chunks

the crunchy granola and magic chunks were the perfect compliment to the soft dough and chocolate chips. unlike when baking the cookie with actual walnuts, the oats mixed in throughout the dough making for a much more substantial and satisfying cookie. plus, there were plenty of nuts in the granola, so i still got the intended nutty taste. the granola was absolutely great to bake with, and i am sure it would make a fine substitute in many of my favorite dessert and snack recipes.

lastly, nutty steph also offers her own brand of trail mix which is out of this world. the minute you try this, it will be hard not to eat the whole bag in one sitting, because it is so damn addictive. the already irresistible granola gets thrown in with fresh batch of raisins, huge and whole crunchy nuts, and large chunks of dark chocolate to make something i can’t resist.

nutty steph's granola trail mix: vermont granola, peanuts, raisins and chocolate chips

this is by far my favorite product of nutty steph’s. i’m sure it would be great sprinkled onto some soy ice cream, or mixed in with some cereal, but i just enjoyed the entire bag plain, on its own. the chocolate discs really bring out the nutty-ness in crispy granola, and the raisins provide a softness to all the crunch. steph really has found the perfect way to combine natural ingredients and make them taste ridiculously good.

this trail mix is so freakin' delicious

nutty steph’s is a vegan junk food/health food dream come true. an unashamedly delicious snack containing ingredients that i can pronounce. all real food, no chemicals or fake shit is contained in nutty steph’s. let’s support this cool chick from vermont who makes the perfect vegan snack, and stick it to the big corporations!

when i was a vegetarian, pizza was my favorite food. at least once a week, i’d treat myself to a piping hot slice (or 10) of cheesy pie. even then i was pretty picky, and finding a truly awesome pizza (in my mind) was rare. as you can imagine, now that i’m a vegan, it’s damn near impossible.

luckily for me, tomato joe’s has made it possible for me to eat exceptional pizza that can please vegans, vegetarians and omnivores alike. all i have to do is pay a visit to my home town, santa clarita. i first heard about tomato joe’s from scvegan.com, and being both a vegan and a pizza lover, i knew i had to check it out. plus, it gave me the perfect excuse to drop by and surprise my parents with a meatless dinner.

large pizza with vegan mozz, mushrooms, tomatoes and chopped garlic on micro-brew crust. $21.39

dude, i can’t even tell you how good this pizza was. if i lived in santa clarita, i would be eating this every other day…and now that i found it, i KNOW mom & dad will be getting sick of me pretty quick. i’ve been on the vegan pizza hunt for quite some time. i’ve tried eating out, cooking countless recipes at home, buying it from the store, and it’s never been quite right…until now. tomato joe’s pizza is perfect. they even use follow your heart cheese, which i have never been a great fan of, and it STILL tastes just right. they get it melty and everything!

i can tell they use only the best ingredients at tomato joe’s—the toppings are fresh, the sauce is delectable, and the crust is off the chain. i can’t speak highly enough of the soft on the inside and crispy on the outside micro-brew option. it is unbelievable. the menu describes it as “hand tossed dough flavored with a locally brewed hefeweizen. puffy edge and thick center.” this crust was so delicious, i think if this pizza were cheeseless and toppingless, it would still be some of the best out there. the menu goes on to specify that the micro-brew crust is entirely vegan and only offered in 16″ (large). i just LOVE it when restaurants know what “vegan” means, and mark items that i can eat clearly on their menu. this is not the small town santa clarita that i remember from when i was growing up! i also love that this scrumptious crust only comes in large…it just forces me to get more pizza. damn. 😉

best. pizza. ever.

my parents, on the other hand, opted for the garden combo pizza with a thin crust. they assured me that it was absolutely delicious. i still refused to go near it, though, ’cause it was covered in bell peppers (which i hate).

medium garden combo pizza: vegan mozz, white shrooms, red onions, fresh tomatoes, artichokes, green peppers and black olives. $14.99

one trick i did pull, was to not tell my mom that she was eating vegan cheese. when she said the pizza was wonderful, i let her know that it was dairy-free. she was astonished. if this vegan pizza could fool my southern, meat-eatin’ mama, it must be pretty damn good!

vegan mozz in all its glory

the crust on this one looked yummy as well. my parents loved it, and my dad told me it was just as good as the micro-brew, which he also tried. the menu describes the thin crust as “slightly more crispy dough flavored with garlic and extra virgin olive oil,” and also vegan. mmm mmm mmm.

so as you can probably tell, tomato joe’s was a great find. i am gonna make it a point to go there as often as possible, and my parents have vowed to switch over from pizza hut. so great to find a vegan-friendly pizza place with genuinely great food.

so all you vegan LAers, next time you go to magic mountain, YOU NEED TO CHECK THIS PLACE OUT.

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who has time to cook breakfast during the week? we sure don’t. and since we don’t want to be forced into skipping it entirely or microwaving a frozen boca burger each morning, we make one huge tofu scramble on sunday, and eat it all week long. this week’s tofu scramble was (and still is, there’s so much of it!) awesome. probably because we based it on the kick-ass ppk recipe for scrambled tofu.

scrambled tofu (adapted from the ppk recipe!) with field roast sausages, tomatoes and sour supreme.

now i’ve eaten a lot (and i mean a lot!) of tofu scrambles in my time, and this was actually one of the best. i make them constantly at home, either with mix out of a box, using recipes online, or simply by throwing everything from my cupboard and fridge into a pan with some tofu…and this was the first one that can hold its own with breakfast from my favorite restaurants. the tofu was spot on, firm and not mulchy at all, and the spices were blended perfectly, enhancing but not overpowering. 

each morning the scrambly mixture just needs to be spooned out and microwaved for 1 minute to be the perfect breakfast again and again. we also cut up some fresh tomatoes each morning and split a chipotle field roast sausage, both fresh off the grill. and of course i cover mine with the hottest of hot sauces and garnish it with a goop of sour supreme every time, i just can’t help it. 

all hail the ppk—they rule and so does this scramble. it has been a great sunday and monday breakfast so far, so i know it will help get me out of bed and get me through the rest of the week.

adapted ingredients and more after the jump.
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sometimes i just want greasy, oily mexican food that makes me remember what it was like to be a vegetarian. unfortunately, i can’t trust the stuff at conventional mex restaurants, and a lot of the veganized establishments offer dishes that are a bit too healthy-tasting. so i’ve decided to take matters into my own hands and create a masterpiece of junk food with no redeeming qualities except for a few tomatoes, and the fact it tastes ridiculously fine. vegan homemade nachos! so yummy, despite the fact that all i had on hand was follow your heart cheese.

now, imho, what sets these apart from the countless vegan nachos in everywhere else you’ve ever eaten, is that these include homemade chips. most restaurants smother store-bought corn varieties (from the bag) in vegan cheddar and all the fixins, leaving people like me 10 minutes and 1,000 calories short of satisfaction. now, while cool places like pure luck have the homemade chip thing down, they don’t even provide a nachos options. wtf! that’s where quarrygirl comes in: care-free, greasy, unforgivable homemade nachos…from the chip to the guacamole.

recipe, pix, and more. all after the jump.

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