• February 6th, 2011quarrygirlstores, whole foods

    we’ve got some pretty exciting news! whole foods locations in los angeles have decided to participate in meatless mondays!

    every monday the stores’ prepared foods sections will feature three vegan items at a discount (usually $2 off per pound), and surround them with appropriate sides that would round off a nice meal set…

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  • February 4th, 2011quarrygirlLA restaurants, pizza fusion, stores, whole foods

    it’s been almost a week since vegan pizza day, and i don’t know about you guys, but i’m ready for round #2! to celebrate the superbowl this sunday, pizza fusion hollywood and whole foods are both having awesome vegan pizza deals that you won’t wanna miss!

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  • February 1st, 2011quarrygirlstores, whole foods

    sigh. sometimes meticulously reading labels just isn’t enough when it comes to determining whether or not products are vegan. this was true for mr. wishbone (you remember him from operation pancake, right?) recently when he bought some agave-sweetened gummy bears at whole foods. here’s his story:

    I bought some gummy bears that appeared to have vegan ingredients, but when I tasted them I knew they had to have gelatin as an ingredient. I wrote to Whole Foods Global Office the note below and they responded today that I was correct. If you read my email to them you will see that not only were some of the ingredients missing but the nutritional info area also failed to show the protein correctly.

    mislabled gummy bears

    Basically they checked their ingredient listing and it looked o.k., but after more checking with their supplier they found that the label had left out the ingredients Gelatin, Lactic Acid, and Purple Berry Concentrate!

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  • November 19th, 2010quarrygirlstores, vegan events, whole foods

    yes, yes, YES! a VEGAN THANKSGIVING PIZZA! sounds too good to be true right?! but it’s not! as of yesterday, it’s available at whole foods west hollywood and on sundays they charge just $10 for an epic surf-board-sized pizza. i know what i’m doing this weekend!

    vegan pizza w/ majestic garlic, roasted veg w/herbs vegan stuffing and daiya cheese

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  • November 9th, 2010quarrygirlLA restaurants, stores, whole foods

    man, i really love the prepared foods section at whole foods. they are always coming up with new delicious restaurant-quality items that are inexpensive and easy to grab on the go. for somebody like me who doesn’t love to cook, the prepared food section is a godsend. last year they provided our thanksgiving dinner, and over the summer they supplied everything needed for a vegan bbq.

    i’m happy to announce that as of today, whole foods locations around los angeles are unveiling their holiday display case, and it’s absolutely packed with all kinds of tasty seasonal foods.

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  • June 29th, 2010quarrygirlstores, whole foods

    summer is here, and if you live in los angeles, whole foods is going to be your one stop shop for EPIC VEGAN FEASTING. that’s right, this week stores in the area are rolling out a completely vegan bbq case for the month of july in the prepared foods section, and it’s ABSOLUTELY INSANE.

    ALL VEGAN BBQ CASE!!!

    the case is already set up at whole foods weho, and will be at other stores in the region starting on thursday, july 1st. i hit up the west hollywood store yesterday to check out the goods, and i was beyond impressed.

    it featured various gardien and field roast items as well as vegan potato salad, tempeh salad and a number of vegetable offerings. everything you need for a bbq, picnic, beach or pool party!

    check out all the crazy stuff i tried…

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  • June 9th, 2010quarrygirlLA restaurants, stores, whole foods

    i shop at whole foods like it’s my job, and i officially have a new favorite location. first i thought it couldn’t get any better than venice, then el segundo took the crown, and now tarzana has got them both beat. it’s massive and it’s epic like no wfs i’ve ever been to before. it needs to be seen to be believed.

    i first got wind of the new whole foods when a helpful tipster wrote in to the blog. (if you know of cool vegan places, please do the same!) she wrote, “FYI… I’m sure you’ve heard by now but the new whole foods opened in tarzana and there’s a crap load of vegan stuff. Soups, hot food, frozen food, and a wine and tapas bar that has daiya sandwiches…” yes! later that day, i saw a post on LAist, with a slew of photos of the new location, and i knew i had to check it out. it took me a few weeks, but i finally hauled my ass out to the valley, and boy was it worth it! (the new store is located immediately across the street from LA’s best vegan restaurant, madeleine bistro…in case you need more inspiration!)

    naturally, i started my tour of the joint in my favorite section: prepared foods! it was amazing. the space was vast and there was way too much stuff to take pictures of. sensory overload to the max. i did catch the entirely vegan salad bar…

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  • May 24th, 2010mr meanerwhole foods

    Imagine, if you would, a relaxed bar with six craft beers on tap and 16 great wines by the glass.

    Add in over 100 bottled beers…

    and around 300 bottled wines…

    I have your attention?

    Good. Imagine if this bar had a “create your own pizza” counter with Daiya cheese and 10 vegan toppings as well as a deli with many vegan sandwiches.

    But wait, there’s more…

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  • March 23rd, 2010quarrygirlhealth, other, stores, whole foods

    i don’t know if you’ve noticed recently at whole foods…but the store has been rolling out a new initiative called health starts here, which promotes plant-based, low-fat, nutrient-dense cuisine. all the way from the bakery to the deli case, you can find pre-packaged meals to go, branded with the health starts here label. not all of it is vegan, but plenty of it is, so this just means our options at whole foods got a whole lot better.

    health starts here baked plantains and black bean meal. $5.99

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  • October 6th, 2009quarrygirlstores, whole foods

    whole foods has done it again. the prepared food section that was one of the first places in los angeles to get daiya covered pizza, hot gardein products, and basu’s homestlye masala is now wowing us again with another revolutionary product, black garlic.

    black-garlic-sign

    starting out as normal garlic, black garlic undergoes an intense and complicated fermentation process that makes it darker in color, sweeter to the taste, and stickier to the touch. it’s fruity and tangy, yet mild…filled with complex flavors, minus the annoying stuff that usually comes with garlic like pungent odor. that’s right, you can eat a mouth full of this delicious stuff and not walk away with bad breath. do i have your attention now?

    being a longtime garlic fan and huge pizza lover, imagine how excited i was when the folks at whole foods and black garlic invited me to the weho store to taste the new product that they are rolling out this week in their prepared food section on some daiya covered vegan pizzas! i went in with pretty high expectations, all of which were exceeded. the black garlic was incredible!

    black-garlic-apple

    the first type of pizza i sampled was whole foods’ special seasonal creation, the fall harvest or “deconstructed cabbage roll” pizza. this thing came covered in mozzarella and cheddar daiya, tomato sauce, shredded cabbage, green apple, black garlic and agave nectar. i’m usually not a fan of fruit on pizza at all, but this thing really blew me away. the sweetness was perfectly paired with black garlic’s subtle tangy-ness, and the 2 types of daiya added a load of rich flavor. speaking of daiya, whole foods weho really knows how to work with it on pizza…adding just the right amount for optimum melt without annoying clumpage that comes with too much cheese.

    black-garlic-apple-cu

    the second pizza i tried was italian-inspired and covered in pesto sauce, mozzarella daiya, tomatoes and black garlic. this is typically the kind of pizza i would order with roasted garlic, but the black garlic gave it a much more complex and rich flavor, without overpowering the pesto.

    black-garlic-pesto

    after trying these two pizzas and tasting some of the black garlic on its own, i’m thinking this stuff has endless possibilities. for garlic lovers, it introduces a whole new world of complex flavors….and for people who haven’t discovered the joys of garlic yet, this stuff isn’t all acrid and intimidating. on top of being delicious, black garlic is extremely healthy as well. it’s loaded up with twice as many antioxidants as raw garlic, and contains a cancer-preventing compound called S-Allycysteine!

    black garlic is available in the prepared foods section of whole foods west hollywood this week, and should be rolled out at other socal outlets over the next couple weeks. i highly suggest you get over there and try this stuff asap on a vegan pizza. it’s like nothing i’ve ever tasted. plus, whole foods pizzas are cheap as hell. for about 15 bucks, you get enough vegan pizza to feed about 5 people!

    for more info on black garlic, check out their website and follow them on twitter.

    whole foods weho
    7871 Santa Monica Blvd
    West Hollywood, CA 90046-5344
    (323) 848-4200

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  • August 4th, 2009mr meanerstores, whole foods
    basus homestyle masala at whole foods, available from TODAY at Santa Monica and Fairfax outlet

    basu’s homestyle masala at whole foods, available from TODAY at Santa Monica and Fairfax outlet

    One of my earliest memories was helping my grandmother prepare Indian food in her kitchen. I recall the brightly colored spices and the wonderful aroma while the pots bubbled away, and became hooked on the food of that nation at a very young age. Years later, I asked her for the recipe of her potato and pea vindaloo as she gave me a bewildered look and said “Well, there isn’t really a recipe. You take the ingredients, combine and cook them in the way you were shown, and hope for the best!”. You see, my grandmother lived the first 30 years of he life in India, and was taught to cook Indian food by many families in their kitchens and around their stoves.

    As an ex-pat Englishman living in Los Angeles, I’ve always missed the taste of real Indian food. West Coast Indian cuisine rarely has the depth of authenticity and complexity of flavors that Indian and British people love so much. I think it’s because there are fewer resident Indian families to share their techniques, and even fewer Indian restaurants of quality. I had even taken to creating my own curry recipe as a facsimile of what I was used to back home.

    Imagine, then, my interest when we received an invitation to a tasting at Whole Foods for a new range of vegan Indian home-style food. For sure, Whole Foods is creeping up on the vegan community in SoCal. From their early adoption of Daiya vegan cheese to an entirely new range of vegan Indian food, Whole Foods is rapidly becoming a one-stop-shop not only in the grocery department (like it always has been), but increasingly in the Prepared Foods section. Yeah, you can get a kick-ass vegan pizza and now some amazing vegan Indian food on your way home from work and at reasonable prices!

    Indian food is a combination of several things, the most important of which is the base “Masala” (meaning sauce and spices), in which one cooks the vegetables and proteins. Then there’s the carbohydrate portion, usually rice and/or bread. The key to tasty Indian food is in the Masala, which for Whole Foods is provided by Basu’s Home-style, a small family-run business headed by Basu Ghosh and his son Robin. Basu hails from Calcutta in Bengal, one of the regions of India that has the most incredible traditional food. Bengali cuisine is the intersection of aromatic spices and sweet flavors. It’s not uncommon to find raisins and even pineapples in a Bengali dish, all bathed in a glorious masala, served over rice.

    I’m delighted to let you know that Basu’s Homestyle has not only brought some amazing masalas to Southern California, but has delivered a kick-ass selection of them to Whole Foods, allowing the wizard chefs of Prepared Foods to create some amazing dishes.

    clockwise: basil vindaloo with peas and mushrooms, tofu apple masala, vegan curried beef with basil vindaloo, channa dal, peanut masala with roasted red potatoes.

    clockwise: basil vindaloo with peas and mushrooms, tofu apple masala, vegan curried beef with basil vindaloo, channa dal, peanut masala with roasted red potatoes.

    Our tasting was a smorgasbord of contrasting tastes that came together in a way rarely experienced this side of West Bengal (or East London, take your pick). From the Basil Vindaloo through the Peanut Masala with Roasted Red Potatoes, we were spell-bound with the flavors. Whole Foods even invented a “Vegan Curried Beef with Basil Vindaloo” – Indian flavors paired perfectly with Gardein, raisins and apples using Basu’s masalas.

    vegan curried beef with basil vindaloo using gardein beef strips and basu's masala

    vegan curried beef with basil vindaloo using gardein beef strips and basu's masala

    Also, I’m really impressed with the way Basu’s and the chefs at Whole Foods have taken traditional, family-style masalas and combined them with non-traditional ingredients like tofu, Gardein and apples. Truly an amazing and interesting way to create tasty vegan Indian food.

    basu-cu

    We were pleased to meet with Basu and Robin during the tasting, and hear their stories about how Basu and his family members from India perfected the masalas in his kitchen at home! They made multiple batches, tested them and modified the formula so that the sauces could be made commercially in large orders yet still have a home-style taste. They then repeated the process to “veganize” the two masalas that had non-vegan ingredients.

    image

    robin ghosh (left) and his father basu, owners of Basu's Homestyle

    About the best vegan pizza is now available in Whole Foods, and I can 100% assure you that the best Indian food in Los Angeles is now also available at your local Whole Foods for sale by the pound. Fill up that container, I promise you won’t be sorry! Whole Foods told us that the West Hollywood outlet (Santa Monica and Fairfax) is rolling out he program TODAY, and the other stores will get with the program at various stages throughout this week. If in doubt, call ahead.

    basu-foods

    Oh, and talking of pizza, Basu’s masala and chutneys are available on some specialty vegan pizzas as well. Yeah, a “basil vindaloo sauce with daiya cheese, zucchini, carrot, and fresh basil” pizza is available (think that through — what an amazing and innovative idea!)…

    vegan indian pizza: vindaloo basil masala, daiya cheese, zucchini, basil and carrot.

    vegan indian pizza: vindaloo basil masala, daiya cheese, zucchini, basil and carrot.

    as well as a “channa dal with fresh cucumber, red onion, tamarind chutney” pizza. We’re talking perfect Indian flavors, mixed with stuff we vegans love on top of a delicious pizza.

    basu-pizza2

    Basu’s mission statement says it all: “If you could visit our home in India, this is the food you would be served.”, and my grandmother was right: there is no recipe for Indian food. The only good Indian food is prepared by the family, and for the family.

    Let’s show Whole Foods and Basu’s how much we love vegan Indian food.

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  • June 17th, 2009mr meanerLA restaurants, whole foods

    whole-foods-pizza-cu

    Last night was NOT the best of nights. I had to work late and then run a bunch of errands before coming home to work some more, dreading the “cupboard is bare” syndrome as I’ve not been shopping in days. I pulled into the Whole Foods Market at Third and Fairfax on the way home, deciding to get some warm food to carry out so I could pretend like I had prepared it myself (denial is a wonderful thing). Upon passing the pizza bar, I saw a sign that said “vegan pizza” so I stopped and inquired. Well, after a lot of to and fro it appears that Whole Foods not only have a vegan cheese pizza offering at every location in Southern California but they started topping it with the amazing Daiya cheese (yes, I had to pinch myself on this one – I even asked to see the cheese packaging, and they pulled out a bag that had “Daiya Vegan Cheese” written all over it.

    In case you have been living under a rock or accidentally got to this page by Googling “asian pizza porn” (and, yes, that is an example of a real search than brought a visitor briefly to quarrygirl.com recently), you will be aware that Daiya cheese is the  most amazing vegan cheese substitute on the planet, and takes the whole experience of being a pizza-loving vegan up a notch or two.

    So, I wasted no time in ordering a pizza with my standard toppings: Mushrooms, Garlic and Tomatoes and while I was waiting for it to be prepared I scuttled around the store picking up a nice bottle of organic wine and some groceries I’d been needing for a while. As soon as I was done shopping, I picked up my piping hot pizza and was back in the car and home in no time.

    Massive Vegan Pizza from Whole Foods

    Massive Vegan Pizza from Whole Foods

    When I plopped the pizza down on my countertop I had to step back and take a reality check at what just happened. I’d gone into a Whole Foods Market, and brought home an absolutely enormous vegan pizza, covered in melty Daiya cheese and chunky vegetables all piled on a crispy Italian-style crust. And, all for just $17. I’m glad I accidentally left my iPhone on the pizza box when I snapped the picture, as it provides some scale of the enormity of that 16 slice pie which is easily 50% bigger than an Extra Large pizza anywhere else.

    Vegan Pizza with Daiya Cheese, Mushrooms, Tomatoes and Roasted Garlic. $17

    Vegan Pizza with Daiya Cheese, Mushrooms, Tomatoes and Roasted Garlic. $17

    So much for the size and Daiya cheese, but how did the pizza taste? The bottom line: If I’d been served this pizza in a pricey restaurant at twice the price, I’d have been impressed. The fact that I bought it in a GROCERY STORE, and it cost less than a three topping X-Large vegetarian pizza from most crappy delivery joints is seriously impressive. The crust was crispy and tasty, the vegetables were perfectly prepared and the vegan cheese needs no introduction.

    Daiya: The Best Vegan Cheese out there

    Daiya: The Best Vegan Cheese out there

    The pictures really don’t do this pizza any justice at all. The convenience of popping into any Wholefoods for one of the best vegan pizzas you’ll ever eat cannot be beaten. According to the duty manager, “all” Whole Foods Market outlets in SoCal will soon (or already do) have Daiya cheese, presumably replacing the chemical mass that is Follow Your Heart vegan cheese. (Of course, your results may vary, so call ahead if you have to go out of your way).

    I predict that within two years most mainstream pizza joints will have a vegan cheese offering, where the cruelty free nature of vegan cheeses cannot be beaten. Also, vegan cheese (especially Daiya, which has less fat and calories than most) is a healthier option than dairy-based cheeses.

    Rock On Whole Foods Market: you just made hundreds of thousands of vegans in Southern California very happy!

    whole-foods-ext

    whole foods
    6350 West 3rd St
    Los Angeles, CA 90036 USA

    Check with your local Whole Foods to see if they’ve started carrying Daiya!

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  • April 8th, 2009quarrygirlLA restaurants, stores, whole foods

    i live in hollywood and my local whole foods is the tiny one located at santa monica and fairfax. because the parking lot is so small, the lines are so long, and the prices are so high, i normally only go to whole foods when i need something crazy for a recipe…or when i’m grabbing a quick bite from the salad bar. i would never consider whole foods a destination to go hang out, or a place to sit and eat lunch. this all changed, however when my friend dragged me all the way to the newish whole foods in venice a few weeks ago.

    holy crap! i realized then that not all whole foods are lame and tiny like my local…some are huge and awesome like this new venice store. there was parking, seating, and so much vegan food i couldn’t begin wrap my mind (or mouth) around. it was like a bloody vegan disneyland! pasta, sandwiches, ice cream, mexican food, chocolate and curry…it was all there ready to be eaten at the lovely outdoor tables. we ordered a ton of food for lunch and enjoyed it right there at the store. i can’t wait to go back.

    whole foods vegan chicken salad sandwich. $6.99

    whole foods vegan chicken salad sandwich. $6.99

    we started off with a vegan chicken salad sandwich from the sandwich counter which was made with gardein, vegetables, and vegenaise. it was absolutely delicious…the gardein chicken salad was super chunky, thick, and creamy…and the bread roll it came on was amazingly fresh. definitely a good, solid sandwich for 7 bucks. it made me wish gardein chicken was available everywhere, i absolutely love that stuff.

    vegan tamale, chocolate and more after the jump.

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  • as the summer rapidly approaches, it’s handy to have an arsenal of cool, refreshing meals that can be whipped up in less than 15 minutes. enter veganomicon and pete’s tofu to go.


    veganomicon’s corn & edamame sesame salad, atop spinach leaves with asian dressing


    pete’s tofu 2 go ready made tofu, with mango wasabi sauce (and we added in some chili garlic sauce as well)

    so simple to make and ready in minutes, this was the perfect meal for a scorching hot evening spent sitting on the couch with a bottle of wine. there was just enough to satisfy without leaving us full, bloated and feeling guilty.

    more pix after the jump…

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  • i write this post for two reasons: to give you a wonderful, hearty chili recipe that can be ready in no time, AND to show you a great new product i just discovered.


    extra protein seitan and worthington chili

    this chili recipe is awesome, and soooooo full of protein…but even more importantly, i hope it introduces you to a WHOLE NEW VEGAN PRODUCT that’s been right under your nose for years: worthington! 

    have you ever even heard of this product? i hadn’t until recently. but now that i know it exists, i find it in every ralphs i visit, from city to city. 

    recipe after the jump. (and even if you are familiar with worthington, you’ll wanna read how to make this ultimate seitan chili meal anyways!)
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