hey everyone, time for another festival field report. this one by jacquelyn drayton comes to us from stagecoach—you know, the big country music festival that happens every year in indio, CA. check it:

I travel A LOT for work, so a country music festival in the middle of the desert was the last place I thought I would be able to find anything remotely vegan. But like an angel that fell from heaven, Texifornia Tamale Company appeared. Thrilled that I wouldn’t have to dine on a warm apple and smushed vegan protein bar at the bottom of my purse for dinner for a second night in a row I hopped in line!

They had beef (blech) and two vegan options. The “Tamale dog” and vegan chili.

I opted for the tamale dog which is a faux sausage wrapped in a tamale smothered in vegan chili which set me back about 9 dollars. Not to bad for a place where a simple slice of pizza will cost you about the same…

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hey everyone! with coachella just one week away, it’s time to do a post about some of the great vegan food you can find inside and around the festival. here is a look at some vendors we know are gonna be there for sure.

vegan tofu naanwich from cowboys and turbans. $7

quarrygirl favorite cowboys and turbans will have a booth on coachella grounds, and they will be serving up their delicious indian/mexican fusion with a plethora of vegan offerings. we’ve had their food before at the festival, and it was excellent. according to their head chef, they’ll be serving up food between the outdoor stage and the gobi tent. be sure to check this place out, it’s our #1 pick.

cowboys and turbans

our first sweet-tooth choice at coachella would of course be luscious organic desserts…

luscious organic desserts espresso cupcake

the company wowed us last year with their high quality vegan cupcakes, and we are happy to report that they’ll be back in 2010 in both the main section AND the VIP area.

luscious organic desserts

even if you are doing the raw thing, there will be food for you at coachella. check out the booth by 118 degrees…

raw pizza and pasta salad from jenny's raw and organic

last year we had their raw pizza, pasta salad, and tacos. i’m pretty sure they will be in the main section and VIP area this year, and they will be either under the name “118 degrees” or “jenny’s raw & organic.”

jenny's raw organic

here are some more places that have been inside the festival in the past, and i’m hoping they’ll be back this year….

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vegans from los angeles may have a hard time finding food in palm springs. after all, we have been completely spoiled in this city with a huge amount of vegan restaurants options. still, there are two places not to miss in the desert—one is native foods, and the other is nature’s cafe. located inside a health food store, nature’s cafe is a very vegetarian/vegan-friendly counter with friendly staff and excellent food. they have a whole section dedicated to vegan selections on the menu, and the workers are very knowledgeable about what other items can be veganized.

we stopped by nature’s cafe on our way back from coachella, and were blown away by how delicious our meal was. i’m talking exceptional, large portions packed with vegetables and cooked to perfection. even better than most of the stuff i can get back home in LA.

tofu burrito. $7.50

my husband got the tofu burrito which was listed under the “breakfast” section of the menu, and was stuffed with scrambled tofu, black beans and sauteed vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower. the vegetable selection was a bit odd for a breakfast burrito, but worked really well and was a welcome change. i ordered the tofu ranchero, which was absolutely huge and consisted of scrambled tofu, avocado, corn tortillas, black beans, rice, kale and assorted vegetables all packed into one box. incredible!

tofu ranchero. $9.95

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UPDATE: just found out the dressings listed in the sweet leaf section of this post contain HONEY. if you order food from sweet leaf, get it with no sauce/dressing!

we vegans have it pretty rough sometimes. it feels like more often than not we find ourselves in places or social situations at meal times where there is almost nothing we can eat, and even then we live in fear that our salad, fries, or bread roll may be contaminated with traces of dairy. lemme assure you, coachella is not one of those places.

coachella is fucking annoying for loads of other reasons, don’t get me wrong. it’s hot as hell, it’s pretentious, it’s expensive and it’s inconvenient….but all those things aside, coachella is definitely VEGAN-FRIENDLY. this year i hear they are even going to be carrying VEGAN CUPCAKES in the vip section made by luscious organic desserts. so be sure to score a wristband if you haven’t already…you need to grab a vegan cupcake before morrissey and paul mccartney eat them all.

i went to coachella last year and took myself on a vegan tour of the festival…here is some of the stuff you can look forward to if you are headed to the desert next week.

sweet leaf organics at coachella

sweet leaf organics is a solar powered kitchen that shows up at music festivals and serves organic vegan food. kick ass. they were at coachella last year near the main stage, and if their website schedule is accurate, they will make an appearance this year as well. i didn’t spot this place until sunday last year, and i was pretty disappointed…my husband and i only got to enjoy one meal at sweet leaf, and it was easily the best food at the festival.

marinated tofu wrap with vegetables and peanut sauce. $9

the menu at sweet leaf is simple, but very appetizing. they have grilled tofu or tempeh wraps and burgers, as well as salads, stir-fry dishes and fresh smoothies. we ordered the marinated tofu wrap and tempeh burger, and were very happy with both.

marinated tempeh burger. $9

they also had vegan items in the vip section, although nothing as awesome as sweet leaf. we found a sushi stand that had vegan vegetable rolls and inari. while it was a total ripoff at 12 bucks, at least it tasted good and didn’t contain animals.

vegan sushi with a side of inari. $12

for a map of sweet leaf and the vegan sushi place, click here. and for a full review of those places, click here.

combination plate: coconut rice with dal and tomato pea curry

if you are more of a dance tent kinda person, don’t worry. there will be vegan food for you too. last year there was an entirely vegan place called bombay station near the gobi serving up a ridiculously good curry combination. anywhere serves 100% vegan food is a winner in my book, so i definitely hope this place returns. oh, and if you like to waste money, there is also a place that sells artichokes for $7.

ridiculously expensive artichoke. $7

for a map to the bombay station and artichoke place, click here. for a full review of these stands, click here.

vegan tofu naanwich. $7

if you want more indian-style food and get sick of the bombay station, there was also another place close by selling a tasty tofu naanwich. i don’t remember the name of this stand, but it had the words “vegan-friendly” posted on signs all over it. for a map to this place click here, for full review click here.

so i think it’s pretty safe to say that vegans won’t go hungry at coachella. you will probably go broke…but definitely not hungry. last year i was there with my husband for 3 days, and between the two of us we didn’t even get to try all the vegan food.

i will keep you posted on this year’s offerings as well. if you are going to attend the festival, follow me on twitter. i will tweet every time i run across vegan food. that is if i can tear myself away from the VEGAN CUPCAKES.

as you may or may not know, i’m a huge fan of native foods. it’s a westwood vegan establishment with several original options whose ingredients i completely trust. imagine how delighted i was on my coachella vacation last weekend when i looked up the nearest vegan restaurant to my hotel in palm springs and found a native foods just 2 MILES AWAY!
…bliss!

latino lover pizza: mexican marinara, soy taco meat, salsa fresca, corn, avocado, cilantro, and vegan sour cream. he cha-cha! $13.95

yes, luckily my parents happened to be in town, and i definitely owed them lunch for saving my ass. so what better place to treat them to a meal at, than the quarrygirl.com approved native foods?

now, while i LOVE native foods, my only problem with this restaurant is the ubiquitous unadvertised bell peppers which DRIVE ME MAD and are sprinkled all over most dishes. no matter what i do, i can’t seem to remember to ask for my meals without them. i digress. back to the wonderful food!

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