I Scream for Vegan Ice Cream

When you tell omnivorous/carnivorous people that you’re vegan they usually respond by saying ‘wait,  no dairy?  what do you eat?’  and then when they realize that ice cream is a dairy product they tell you you’re crazy.  Well in my quest for vegan sweet treats I’ve found a few that I consider to be holy grail vegan ice creams.  Now these are definitely treats for a reason, they don’t come cheap.  In fact,  they will cost you a few bucks more than their dairy equivalent. But they are totally worth the splurge when you need to satisfy your cravings or just curl up on the couch with a movie and a pint of vegan Turtle Trails.

Purely Decadent
Lets be honest now.  Most supermarket soy ice creams taste like soy.  You can grin all you want about how great it is to have ice cream because you never eat it but it really just tastes funky.  Purely Decadent is by far the best brand of soy ice cream I have come across.  It does not taste like soy.  It’s rich and creamy and comes in a huge variety of flavors you never would have thought possible.  Sure you can get vanilla and chocolate but why would you when you can have Cookie Dough, Key Lime Pie, Peanut Butter Zig Zag, Mint Chocolate Chip, or anything!  The list goes on and on and just talking about it now my mouth is watering.  It’s so refreshing to find selection because as a vegan it’s pretty much the last thing you are given that to me its worth the price. (6-7 dollars a pint at any save-on, whole foods and sometime Safeway)

Something else I discovered last year was coconut milk ice cream.  It’s really the most amazing treat I think I’ve ever had.  Its creamier and smoother than dairy ice cream and if you love the taste of coconut its definitely going to be something to try.  Purely Decadent makes a few different varieties of coconut milk ice cream including mint chocolate chip and cookie dough.   It’s expensive (same price as the purely decadent soy ice cream) but definitely worth trying

Tofutti Cuties

I never would have though I would be able to find a vegan ice cream sandwich but low and behold Tofutti makes some pretty tasty ones that are very similar to a traditional ice cream sandwich.  The best part?  They’re CHEAP at just under 5 dollars for a box of 8.

It’s treats like these that make me confident that despite the piss poor weather Vancouver has been experiencing, it really is going to be a good summer.

Product Review: Gardein Chick’n Good Stuffs

When I lived at home, my mom was a huge support for me when it came to my vegan diet.  Not only did she continue to cook meals for me, she always made sure I had a balanced diet with enough veg, carbs and protein.  Mom was always coming home with a new meat replacement for me to try and even after I moved she was giving me new stuff to try including a immitation chicken breast called “Chick’n Good Stuffs”.

Chick’n Good Stuffs is a soy chicken breast stuffed with corn and black beans and it also comes with a tomato sauce to be eaten with the thing.  The box makes it look amazing and I wish I had taken a photo of this thing when you take it out because it’s literally a beige hockey puck with a vacuum sealed sauce compartment.  It was a little humorous poking holes through the plastic, preparing it for the microwave.

Now the taste somewhat surprised me.  I’m not sure if I’m the only vegan around who’s picky about meat replacements.  I usually find that they are not so great.  Either the texture is off or there’s a weird after taste.  But this didn’t had a strange texture or taste, despite being microwaved (I usually find that fake meat tastes best bbq’d or in an oven).   It was pretty mild tasting and with the corn/bean stuffing and sauce it provided it with enough flavor to be tasty.   It’s nothing compared to my holy grail fake chicken nuggets (which I will discuss at a later date) but still decent!

I honestly don’t know the price of these thangs but I’ll check it out at safeway.  I can’t imagine them being a hell of a lot more than every other fake chicken out there,  somewhere between 4-6 dollars,  and they come two to a pack so divide that for a serving price.

The company, Gardein has a pretty comprehensive/user friendly website that vegans should investigate.  It shows you where you can buy their stuff (almost every large supermarket chain) and all the nutritional info.

www.gardein.com

Arriba Arriba! La Taqueria!

Ladies and gentlemen, I have found a rarity in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia.  1.  It’s not exactly easy to find a restaurant that caters to vegans in downtown Vancouver.  2. It’s not exactly easy to find a spot that’s cheap AND caters to vegans in downtown Vancouver. 3.  It’s nearly impossible to find Mexican food in downtown Vancouver.  But I have done it.  I have found the apex.  A magical place where cheap meets ethical meets Mexico and it is called La Taqueria.

How it all began:

After spending an intense 45 minutes or so scouring Dressew (Vancouver’s cheap fabric/crafts/Halloween/everything store) my friend Amber and I noticed we had worked up an appetite.  Immediately after exiting I noticed La Taqueria almost directly across the street and suggested we go take a peek at the menu.  The restaurant itself is really cute and after some friendly direction from the staff we decided to try it out.

There were 4 vegetarian taco options (3 being vegan) and Amber, who eats mostly vegetarian went for a veggie combo (4 tacos of your chosen flavours)  so she could try each one.  I went for a 4 taco combo as well and as I explained to the cashier that I would just have two of one of the vegan options to round up my combo he was kind enough suggest that the chef could make me a 4th vegan option not listed on the menu.

We took our seats and waiting a few minutes and our soft shell corn tortillas arrived.  Our server/cashier dude also pointed out a taco decoration station that was full of salsas, guacamole and other various toppings.  After loading up on guac we made our way back to our seats and chowed down.

My taco’s were fantastic!  I had one made with beans and veggie ground round, one with mushrooms and veggie ground round,  one with mushrooms beans and veggie ground round and one with just some sort of mashed up bean mixture. Each very satisfying and flavorful.  I also found it really great that they double layered the corn tortillas so the filling wouldn’t soften and break the tortilla.

Price BREAKdown:

Veggie/Vegan Taco: $2.00 each

Veggie/Vegan Combo:  $7.00 each

It’s definitely affordable for downtown eats and it’s somewhere I plan on going again.  And again.  And again.  Thank you La Taqueria!

http://www.lataqueria.ca/

Product Review: Honey’s Gheimeh Stew

We all know that eating out can be expensive so I’m always on the hunt for something cheap and portable for dinner at work.  I usually only have a microwave at my disposal which means I either need to bring leftovers or buy something to take.  I’m rarely in the mood to actually make something specifically for work so I usually end up picking up a few cans of soup while I’m shopping for groceries.  However,  while I was waiting in line at Donald’s Market,  I noticed these packaged stews made by Honey.   I think what caught my attention immediately was that I knew exactly what each ingredient was on the label.  No weird chemicals, preservatives or colorants.  After seeing the $1.69 price tag I was set on trying it out.

The stew comes in a metal container somewhat reminisint of a large can of anchovies.  The instructions on the package say to put it in boiling water to heat it up but I just dumped it over some rice I had made the night before and popped it in the microwave.  After about a minute and 30 seconds it was ready and it smelled sooo good.

It was made primarily of split peas and an oily, slightly tangy tomato sauce with some soft slices of potato.  It was definitely filling and very tasty and I plan on picking up a bunch more to keep stocked in my pantry shelf.

They have a website but it’s pretty lame, just an image with an email address,  but I’m sure if you can’t find it at your grocery store then you could shoot them an email and find out how to get your hands on it.  www.hanifoods.com

Radically Ramen: The First Instalment

I would like to take this chance to talk about a love affair I’ve had with ramen noodles.   I’ve always loved ramen whether it was cooked as a soup,  strained and eaten as noodles or even just raw in the package as a crunchy snack.  So when I became vegan I was delighted to find out that most ramen brands have a vegan flavour.

That being said, I plan on launching a mini-series called Radically Ramen.  There’s SO much you can do with a package of ramen noodles and they’re dirt cheap at 54 cents a pack (even less if you buy in bulk!).  Each Radically Ramen post will be a new recipe I’ve come up with using one pack of ramen noodles.

The first instalment of Radically Ramen is a pretty simple recipe I whipped up, somewhat inspired by the udon noodles my mom makes. Also a side note, I’m writing this recipe for one person,  but it should be easily doubled, tripled or quadrupled depending on how many people you’re cooking for.  As of right now it serves 1.5 as a light lunch or 1 as a filling dinner.

Udo-Ram

Ingredients:

1 package of ramen noodles (I used  Mr. Noodle in Oriental,  I think most oriental and vegetarian flavours are vegan but always check the package!)

1 large mushroom

4 – 5 baby carrots

1 baby bok choy

1/6th package of medium tofu

1 small garlic clove

1 quarter sized slice of ginger

The glory of this recipe is that its almost just as easy as making plain noodle soup, all you do is follow the recipe on the package for the noodles.  As you’re bringing the water to a boil, rinse and chop up your veggies into smaller, bite sized chunks and mince the garlic.  Once the water is boiling just throw everything into the pot and cook for 2-3 minutes.  This is just enough time to cook the noodles,  soften the vegetables and bring out the flavour of the ginger and garlic.  Then just add the flavour package, stir and enjoy!

Price B-B-B-Breakdown:

Ramen: 54 cents

Mushrooms: $1.99/lb, I used one mushroom so it was probably about 8 cents

Carrots: $1.69 per pack. I used 5 carrots so it was probably about 5 cents

Tofu: $1.79 per pack.  I used about 1/6th of the package so about 25 cents

Baby Bok Choy: $1.24/lb,  I used 1 bok choy so thats probaby about 12 cents.

Total cost:  $1.04

Review: Whole Foods Vegan Chocolate CupCakes

The Deets:

Whole Foods @ Cambie & 7th

2 Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes @ $2.99 ea.

Total = $6.28

There’s two things that Whole Foods is known for; being able to find culinary delights you’d never heard of let alone dreamt of and being ridiculously over-priced. But when I was looking for a treat to share with a co-worker I was pleasantly surprised as I stumbled past the bakery counter.   They had two vegan cupcake options,  strawberry and chocolate.  I’m a chocolate fiend so I chose the latter and the bill came to just over 6 dollars for the pair.

When the time was right I brought them out and we oggled them for a while,  took a few pictures and then dove right in.  There was probably more icing than cupcake and it was really good and not overly sweet with a texture and consistency similar to Nuetella.   The cake itself was a little lacklustre unfortunately.  We both found that it was tasty but a little dry and the icing was a little too thick to balance it out.  At points it was almost like eating a peanut butter sandwich without a glass of soy milk.  My idea of a perfect cupcake is one you don’t need a lubricant for.  Something super moist and soft,  not crumbly.  So needless to say I was mildly disappointed.

But that being said,  it’s such a joy to find vegan desserts at commercial supermarkets that it almost didn’t matter how good it was.  My co-worker who is far from vegetarian let alone vegan said that she wouldn’t been able to tell it was made without milk or eggs.  All in all I would definitely recommend it and I will be trying the strawberry one in the near future.

Recipe Review: Plantain and Pinto Stew

The Deets:

Portions: 6 (the recipe says 4 but it’s SO filling)

Price: Approx. $10.00 ( $1.70 per serving)

One of the first meals I made for myself after I moved out was the Plantain and Pinto Stew recipe I found in Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero’s Veganomicon (page 183).  It appealed to me immediately because I already had a few of the ingredients on the list and everything else I could grab easily at the produce store near my house.  The recipe calls for vegetable oil, white onion, yellow pepper, jalapenos, garlic, tomatoes, salt, cumin, pinto beans, plantains and cilantro so it’s pretty basic supermarket stuff.  It didn’t cost much more that 10 to pick up everything I needed and I can still use the cumin, cilantro and jalapeno’s for other recipes.

The recipe was real easy to make and because it’s a stew you basically just chop everything and toss it into a pot for an hour or so.  I did learn that I needed a bigger cutting board as the one I used was about 12×8 inches and was entirely covered after cutting up the onion.

The dish was very flavourful,  slightly on the sweet side as the plantains tasted a little like sweet potato.  It impressed my sister who’s a chicken fiend so I think it turned out well. It’s also gotten me a bit more curious about plantains and other recipes I could use them for.  They’re pretty cheap (99 cents/ lb) and pretty tasty.