Category Archives: Reviews

Vegan Desserts in Jars Review

June 25, 2018

This is another cookbook my Mother-in-Law found and thought of me. She was browsing a local second-had bookstore, Second Time Books, and found this little jem. I was pretty skeptical. Mason jars are made for jarring and holding things, not for drinking and eating. A fad that I am totally against. I smiled, took the book and flipped through it. I figured I would give it a fair shot.

After reading Jenny Marie’s cook-a-long monthly challenge, I thought it would be fun to share some posts reviewing the book as well. If you have a blog with a review (specifically of the recipes), leave a comment and I will add you to the list.

Love Elycia | Scraps of Life

Photos

My first guess was that Kris took the photos herself (she did!) I could tell they weren’t professionally done, but they are still very good. It certainly not like when your boss at the restaurant you work at says “Can you believe they wanted $200 to take photos of food! I mean look at my photo? Isn’t it just the same?” You nod yes, but your bosses crummy photo pretty much explains why a professional photography wants $200. This has happened to me TWICE, just pay a damn photographer! NOW if KRIS was my boss and showed me her photos, I would of been impressed. She uses lots of natural light, and does a great job making the food look enticing.

But she does not have a photo for each recipe. I think that is overall fine. I think there is enough to leave out some of the doubt and guesswork, like what the heck will a babka in a jar look like? Or how will a whole loaf look in a mason jar?!

Set-up

Like most modern cookbooks, this has and introduction then chapters full of recipes. I have to say I STRONGLY recommend reading the introduction! She gives some important information about mason jar safety, that you might want to read to make sure you don’t have any exploding jars in the oven. She is short and sweet, so you can move on to the recipes.

She divides the recipes in 9 chapters- No-Bake Treats, Cakelettes, Pie and Friends, Pastry, Odds and Ends, Treats for Two, Mixes, Jam on It!, Toppings and Fillings. I like how she starts with no-bake so if you are excited you can jump right in. I also like how she does include some jam recipes, I mean that’s what mason jars are for, right?

Writing

Kris does a great job getting to the point but talking about what is important in the beginning. And I quickly went from “why can’t we move on past the mason jar trend!?” to “oh, she makes a really good point!” I am not 100% sold, but I think it does create some great points. You get self portioned desserts, you can easily bring an apple pie for lunch at the office. Okay, I’m getting this. So what I am trying to say is that Kris is really good at getting you excited about making food.

She should be good at it, she has written quite a few books, mostly about baking and has a now dead blog called Nom Nom Nom Blog. I know for a fact that I’ve stumbled onto this blog a few times in the past.

Overview

There have been both hits and misses with these recipes. I think I found that the delicate oil based cakes we are used to in the United States just don’t work with the glass baking dish. I had zero luck with the hot water bath baking. BUT I loved the premade portions for the desserts. I think my husband was in heaven taking a small little apple pie into work. And the heavier cakes worked beautifully.

There are a lot of recipes I am interested in trying. Mostly the baked fruit pies for my husband. I am usually making a WHOLE pie for him. Sure I’ll eat a slice, but I am happy eating only one or two slice and letting my husband polish it off. Having small jars makes it easier for him to enjoy and the oven is on for less time.

The book is pretty short, which is kind-of a bummer, but in some ways great. I think overall this book helped me get excited about a new baking tool. It has very much inspired me to try converting some recipes into a jar. I am sure my husband will enjoy the more elaborate desserts that he can bring into work.

The Recipes

Below are my individual recipe reviews. I tried to leave links to any publisher approved online recipes, which was only two. I also try to pick a recipe from each section, but skipped Treats for Two, Mixes, Jam on It!, Toppings and Fillings. The mixes I felt didn’t fit my definition of a baked good mix (too many non-shelf-staple mix in required). I made a few topping and fillings, but they are mixed in the reviews (two cakes, and a grasshopper pie). Finally summer creeped in and turning the oven on seemed irresponsible for making anything from the Treats for Two section, and I wouldn’t be making anything from the jarring section. You probably didn’t care, but there you go. My logic for the whole thing!
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Posted by Jennifer in Book Review, Reviews Tags: book review, cookbook review, kris holechek peters, nom nom nom blog, vegan desserts in jars

5 comments

Blog Recipe Round Up: Curries

May 15, 2018

This curry round up has taught me one vital lesson. I am spoiled. Yes my idea of what a curry is, is slowly becoming quite narrow. After cooking so many dhal recipes and such from Vegan Richa’s cookbook I have learned how to create so much depth and flavor to a curry dish. Now, when I stumble upon a recipe that uses plain curry powder, it makes me a little sad.

Yes, there are some curry recipes on here that just uses the yellow spice mix, and some don’t. Some are called a curry and a yummy, but deep in my heart I know it is just a stew. So read and enjoy my most recent round up!

Kohlrabi Curry

This is a very odd recipe, I’ve never seen a curry made this way. First you roast the kohlrabi then you cook the rice, then saute the aromatics, then add the kohlrabi to the aromatics. Very weird, but it works. She also uses chili powder which works surprisingly well with everything.

The recipe says it only take 30 minutes to make, which isn’t fully true, it can be more if your oven is really old and takes 20 minutes to preheat. My second complaint is that the recipe really only makes enough for two very hungry people. I might be interested next time doubling the recipe. And I was using a pretty HUGE kohlrabi too!

My word of caution is to peel the kohlrabi well. I didn’t and it was very tough in some parts. My husband described it as being stabbed by the curry. This is an easy fix.

Bottom Line: Yummy, easy

Chana Masala

This is one of my summer favorites. When my CSA is producing tons of tomatoes, it isn’t a big deal to use up three pounds of tomatoes in one dish. In my area, that many tomatoes can cost $9 overall or $12 organic. It isn’t the worst amount of money when you consider that it makes 4 servings, etc, etc. But when your cheap like me, it is a big deal.

What I find interesting about using fresh tomatoes instead of tinned is that you get two very different Chana Masalas. Canned results in a sweet dish, and that is how most Westerners learn how to make Chana Masala. That is all fine and dandy, but I like how this dish is practically all the same ingredients but show how you can get something totally different with a few tweaks. The end results is a tangier curry that was awesome. I love any chickpea based curry, and if you like Chana Masala you might to give this a try.

Bottom Line: Pricey with tomatoes, super yummy

Roasted Red Pepper, Chickpea and Spinach Curry

I pretty much picked up on this recipe since it looked simple and used cocktail or cherry tomatoes. I do have to say it is insanely easy. Roast some bell peppers, saute onion and garlic, then blend with a bunch of stuff. Then mix with spinach, chickpeas, and tomatoes, and bake. It might take over an hour to make, but the active and clean up time is pretty minimal. I also had the brilliant idea of using pasta instead of rice. I think both would of worked well, but I am slightly more partial to the pasta. The rice would of been good at grabbing onto the thin sauce.

I think the only downside to this curry is that it probably needs more salt… or rather more defined amounts of salt. I think the author sprinkled more salt onto the bell pepper than I did. So in the end the sauce was a little bland and I sprinkled a lot of coconut aminos on it. Which is fine and still tasted amazing. I will definitely make this dish again in the future. You could speed up the cooking process by using jarred red bell peppers.

Bottom Line: Super easy, lots of down time

Tofu Tikka Masala

Here is the biggest flaw in the recipe, you slow cook for a total of only 4-6 hours. Sucks. Most people use their slow cookers before they go to work, making most people out for 8+ hours. I know that isn’t how everyone has it, but most. So that is my number one complaint. It isn’t a big deal if, say, you want to make this on the weekend, or perhaps if you are a stay at home mom. Maybe you can come home during your lunch break? There are many situations where you can make this.

Oddly this is the second curry on here that uses cherry tomatoes. Odd, but I am loving this idea. I get so many cherry tomatoes from my CSA, and sometimes, I can’t just eat them raw in salads and wraps. I liked how they created sweet little bursts of flavor in the sauce. Slow cooking REALLY makes the flavors come out in the sauce, and I will be making this again for sure. I think in the future, I may want to bump the tofu from 1lb to 1 1/2lb. I was able to cut cubes for Wolfie and cover it in extra sauce. Baby approved.

Bottom Line: Great for stay at home moms or people who can come home for lunch to prep

Tandoori Cauliflower Chickpea Bowls with Creamy Cashew Raita

This dish I am on the border of printing out and making more often. It was pretty minimal work. Blend the raita up, chop and toss the cauliflower in a quick sauce, bake, and assemble. Pretty simple. It is also pretty darn healthy. I served it with a little bit of leftover brown rice instead of greens, though just the greens would of been tasty as well.

I have two complaints. One, which isn’t as big of a deal, is that there was SOO much leftover raita. I am not 100% sure what to use it for, but I will have to think of ways to use it up. The second complaint is that I wish there was a LIITTLE more flavor to the cauliflower. I didn’t use a whole head of cauliflower because it looked like there was too much for sauce. So I think if I made this again, I would double the sauce coating. Maybe even toss the chickpeas in it?

Bottom Line: Lots of extra raita, wish for more sauce, OVERALL YUMMY!

One Pot Curried Lentils and Enlgish Peas

I like how easy this recipe is. Very simple, but surprisingly large amount of flavor. It calls for green lentils, but I went for brown since they were the only ones available. I am sure green lentils would of tasted better, because I don’t know many people who prefer brown. Oh well.

This dish is as simple as saute the onion and garlic, add water, coconut milk, and lentils and simmer. Then toss in the peas and broccoli, cook JUUUUST a little longer, and that’s it. This involves very little chopping and prepping. This is something I would feel very comfortable leaving for my husband to make. This will get printed and filed away for him to make one day when he needs to make dinner on his own.

Bottom Line: Yummy, easy

Posted by Jennifer in Food Review, Reviews Tags: isa does it, recipe roundup, tartes and recreation, tasty kitchen, the full helping, the post punk kitchen, The PPK, Veggie Chick, yup it's vegan

4 comments

Vegan Eats World – Revisted

May 14, 2018

Well, Jenny Marie is doing another cookbook challenge with a cookbook I own- Vegan Eats World. I made a review awhile ago that you can check out, but I’ve cooked a few more things from the book. I mean I wrote that review 4 years ago! Wow. Also, I didn’t cook NEARLY as many recipes from cookbooks as I do now.

As mentioned in the original review, my copy broke pretty early on. I was pretty pissed since this was a gift, but because of this I recommend trying to get a hard copy of the book. This is also why there aren’t any photos of my book, and just photos of a big binder. Oh well.

As always, I am linking to other recipe reviews of the book, to share all the fun. If you have a review of the cookbook on your blog leave a comment. I will happily link it. And as always if I find a recipe online, I will link it.

A Dash of Compassion | Herbivores Heaven | Kittens Gone Lentil | The Unintentional Vegan | Vegan in Brighton

Berbere Spice Blend
Section: Spice Blends
I made this spice blend for a recipe in The Great Grains Cookbook. I couldn’t find any berbere spice blends at any of my normal grocery stores. I think that is why I love this book. It does provide some useful tools for people who don’t have access to global/international food stores. I enjoyed the blend, though I do wonder how authentic it is. I’ve never actually had it before. But still yummy.

Deluxe Tofu Vegetable Mafe
Section: Curries, Heart Stews, & Beans
This is hands down one of my favorite dishes from this book. A nice peanut buttery stew. Yum. I think one of my favorite parts of this dish is that it is very flexible with the vegetables you can put into it. At the end of the recipe there are many different alterations, okra, winter squash, whatever really. This is really helpful to make over and over again as the produce changes over the season. If you are going to make one recipe from this book I would either recommend this one, or the other peanut based dish- Flying Massamn Curry. Oh, and I recently ate the leftovers of this dish on a corn waffle. It’s a great way to eat it.

Flying Massaman Curry
Section: Curries, Heart Stews, & Beans
Recipe: The Veracious Vegan
More peanut butter please! I make this a lot during the summer months since our CSA makes really good cherry tomatoes and I can’t keep eating them in a salad! I love how the cherry tomatoes go into the curry, and I believe this is yet another recipe with a million veggie options. I have a feeling that I usually do green beans… if my memory is serving me right. I love how easy this curry is to make, and like the mafe this one of my favorite and most frequently used recipe from the book.

Fusilli with Almost-Sicilian Arugula Pesto, Potatoes, and Peas
Section: Asian Noodles to Mediterranean Pasta
This was a hit. I am still not convinced that arugala should be a pesto, this is the second recipe that used it that I’ve tried. But everything is very good. Apparently putting potatoes in a pasta dish is a very Italian thing, though I’ve never heard of it before. It is pretty easy, just make the pesto, then boil potatoes adding the pasta at the end. Toss. I used the suggested green beans instead of peas since I was making this dish for my Mother in Law who doesn’t like peas. Although this is good, I would only make it again if I used an all basil pesto instead of arugula.

Golden Tandoori Tofu
Section: Hearty Entrees
Recipe: The Veggie Table
I never really thought much about this recipe until My Cat Loves Daiya made it. So I took the plunge and I am glad I did. The tofu is a beautiful golden color, which prompted me to eat it next to “purple” beets for a vegan mofo complimentary colors challenge. I like the sauce, it is creamy but full of flavor. I am not 100% sure if you need to use yogurt. I didn’t taste any of the tangy notes in the dish, which I bring up since vegan yogurt can be a little pricey for people. This is a dish I will make several times again, for sure.

Mediterranean Seitan
Section: The Three Protein Amigos Touf, Seitan + Tempeh
This was my first time making seitan and it helped me get over my anxiety of making it. I hear lots of people say it is hard to mess up seitan, but then I’ll read blog posts about how people hate when it gets spongey or whatever. I was happy with this recipe, and it inspired me to make these adzuki seitan sausages.

Ninja Carrot Ginger Dressing
Section: Salads, Spreads, and Sandwiches
Recipe: Vegan Latina
This was really easy to make, even easier for me since I had my crazy high speed blender. I didn’t even need to grate the carrot, all I did was throw a bunch of carrot chunks with all the other ingredients and blend. I enjoyed the recipe, my husband wasn’t a huge fan (though he didn’t hate it.) We ate it with the tofu burgers, and the leftovers were tossed with some pasta and peas that Wolfie really enjoyed.

Okra Masala (Bindi Bhaji)
Section: Robust Vegetable Entrees & Sides
Recipe: The Blender Girl
I don’t really like okra, but my CSA grows it. And if you have a CSA like I do, sometimes you get put in a corner where you either take something you don’t like, or deal with less veggies or too many of the same veggies. So I made this recipe, and I can safely say this is my favorite way to eat okra. This dish is very easy to make, but is really something that needs other dishes to be served with it (like that sri lankan dhal) The instructions are detailed, and cook the okra in a way to help reduce all that slime. But I think the star of the recipe is the amchur powder. My sister gave me some awhile ago, but this was the first recipe to use it. It makes the dish tangy and amazing.

Roasted Chili Pepper Harissa Paste
Section: Spice Blends
I’ve made this many times, and it is only recently I’ve actually BOUGHT harissa from Trader Joe’s. So going from that bit of information, does the recipe hold up? I’m going with yes- mostly. I think Trader Joe’s version is more oily, which might be more traditional. But I do like making it at home because you can control the spice levels more, which is great for my husband. I also love using the hot peppers from my CSA. So I get very fancy ORGANIC and LOCAL harissa. Can’t beat that?

Savory Tofu
Section: The Three Protein Amigos Touf, Seitan + Tempeh
I love this recipe. It gets made all time, though I’ve taken a step back. I make it constantly for stir-fries, but since having Wolfie, I’ve chilled out with it a little. I just don’t have the time. I like how lazy I can be with it, but it is time consuming, and makes the house hot during the summer. You need to press the tofu, then bake for 40 minutes. The recipe is pretty simple, mostly getting flavor from soy sauce.

Sensei Tofu Hijiki Burgers
Section: Hearty Entrees
Oh mixed reviews on this recipe. I loved it, my husband was not a big fan. I am a little clueless as to why, but I guess you can’t please everyone? This was super yummy as it was mostly drained tofu that had been crumbled and mixed with hijiki seaweed and panko breadcrumbs. Then coated with more bread crumbs and baked. The burgers were pretty small, so you can’t fully make them into a burger with a bun. Well, you could, you would just need to make less than 8.

I served it with the ninja carrot dressing as suggested which was easy to make and tasty. I think these would be great to try and make those rice “burgers”. This would also of been better if I made a side veggie while the burgers were baking in the oven.

Spicy Savory Soft Tofu (Ma-po Tofu)
Section: Curries, Heart Stews, & Beans
Recipe: Vegan Latina
This is a recipe that I’ve seen a few times in various vegan cookbooks. I didn’t seem to care too much about making it. But I figured why not? I have some black bean paste in the fridge, so why not learn a new dish? Overall I wasn’t a huge fan. I think I might try it eating out, but it seemed weird. I think I felt compelled to add some veggies to the dish. You also use soft tofu, making it hard to cook. I am not very gentle, so I struggled to keep the tofu cubes in one piece. Overall it tasted good, I just wasn’t feeling the recipe.

Sri Lankan Red Lentil Curry
Section: Curries, Heart Stews, & Beans
I use to make this dish a lot. It’s been awhile though. I altered the recipe to make it into a slow cooker curry, and it got so creamy and delicious that it was to die for. This recipe takes awhile to make, you need to soak the lentils in hot water, then cook them. You temper some veggies and spices on the side and add at the end. It involves little work from the chef, which is ideal for making other sides, proteins, or maybe a flatbread.

Posted by Jennifer in Book Review, Reviews Tags: cookbook review, cookbooks, Terry Hope Romero, vegan eats world

3 comments

Homestyle Vegan Review

May 8, 2018

Shop on Amazon or Barnes and Noble

My Mother-in-Law knows I love to cook, I can almost assume I will be getting some sort of cookbook during the holiday season from her. Sometimes I specifically ask for it, sometimes it is a cookbook she happens to see. One year, she saw this book and thought it looked pretty tasty. It was something that wasn’t on my radar- although I’ve heard of the blog Fettle Vegan, I never actually read it. I didn’t see any reviews for this cookbook, it was completely new to me. The book sat on my shelf forever and ever, and I finally thought I ought to make a review of this book and finally put some of the recipes to work!

Photos

I think the photos were taken by Amber St. Peter herself, so I feel a little bad saying this- but I am not impressed by her photography. Overall they are great photos, it most definitely not as bad as Martha Stewart’s instagram account. But her photos are very warm, and the reds are over saturated, making her photos look more like they were taken closer to the early 2000s.

But she does deserve more credit as she has photos for pretty much each recipe. Some recipes are on her blog, but many are not. And the food looks very appetizing and still pretty to look at. I simply think it would of been best if there was a special photographer hired to take the photos, but I’d rather have these photos than none at all.

Set-up

This book is a cookbook through and through. Amber wastes little time and dives into the recipes after a very brief page-long introduction. The downside is that I think it makes the overall theme a little hard to figure out. I always thought she had a weird selection of recipes, but once I read the descriptions it became clear that it is comfort foods that she grew up with (mostly.)

The sections are as follows: Rise + Shine, Meals That’ll Stick to Your Ribs, Feed Your Friends, Crowd-Pleasers, Cook Up Some Comfort Food, Bake Sale-Worthy Baked Goods, When Cookies Won’t Cut It, Have a Drink, and Stock Your Pantry. Frankly- I don’t understand what defines HALF of the savory-meal sections. I start to think “oh these are appetizers?” then suddenly there is a cornbread and potato salad. There needs to be a little more rhyme and reason! A good portion is also sweet dishes. Most of the breakfast foods are sweet, and then you have two dessert chapters. The “have a drink” section is also predominantly sweet drinks, which follows the comfort food themes. I tend to not like the sweets so it wasn’t really my thing, and I think a major factor to why I never used the book.

Writing

I really like Amber’s writing style. It is very inviting, and I found myself more interested in the recipes once I read her description. She is very laid back, and really good at convincing you that you’ve got this recipe, and it will really taste delicious. My only concern is how often she says “healthier” in the description. Although I totally agree with her, her food tends to be healthier than the originals, I do have major concerns about selling veganism as a healthy diet. It can be, but people do expect life altering changes in their health.

Overview

This isn’t the cookbook for me. I think all the recipes have tasted pretty good, I could modify them as needed, and I can think of quick ways to make them work better for myself. But I find her categories confusing and therefore a little hard to figure out what to make. It feels like there are so many sweets for the categories, but I guess that is mostly because I am just a savory girl. And she has some staples in the back, but none I felt compelled to make.

I think what it comes down to is that would probably be a good book for a totally new vegan. Maybe someone who is making vegan meals when a friend or family come to visit, or maybe if someone is just wanting to try more food that are meatless/dairy free. None of the recipes seemed particularly new to me, and I could easily find in some vegan cookbook on my shelf. There are few little sparkling jewels that I wasn’t going to find in the other cookbooks, but I think most seasoned vegans might want to pass on this book.

I am thinking about donating this book to the library. I think a new vegan would find this book MUCH MORE HANDY than myself. I think there are lots of nice qualities to this book, like the recipes are very veggie heavy and the book has a wonderful “flat-lay” pages, making it extra easy to read recipes while cooking.

The Recipes

As with all my cookbook reviews, I try and review as many recipes as I can, from each category from the book. If there is an online recipe available I try and link it, but I only link up recipes that are approved by the publisher. Any photos I’ve take are shown as well.

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Posted by Jennifer in Book Review, Reviews Tags: amber st. peter, book review, cookbook review, fettle vegan, good saint, hometyle vegan

5 comments

La Dolce Vegan Review

April 16, 2018

Ebook: Amazon or Barnes and Noble
Paper Copy: Books a Million or Indie Bound

I decided I should write a review for this book since Sarah Kramer wrote on her social media that her publisher wouldn’t be reprinting this cookbook. A bit of a bummer since this was favorite out of her three books (How It All Vegan and Garden of Vegan) as it has such a large selection of recipes, tips, and tid-bits.

Photos

None. Same as How It All Vegan, there are no photos, at least of food. There are various photos of Sarah between chapters and I am guessing of her posing with various fans (and Vanilla Ice). The photos are in black and white, and are there just to be fun, keeping the pages visually interesting.

Set-up

La Dolce Vegan is set up a little differently from Kramer’s first two books. She starts by talking personally, her struggles with the new book, going solo, what to write about, cookers burn out, etc. She lays the ground work- this book is about fast and easy recipes. Cool. Then she talks about staying on the vegan track, and little tips here and there about common reasons why people stop going vegan. I like how she keeps with her themes of giving useful information about veganism, but tries to not be too repetitive. She then has a whole chapter on random tips in the kitchen, which only takes a few minutes to read. There are always little bits of helpful information in there.

After the introductions she has the following chapters for recipes: Breakfast, Appies & Snacks, Salads & Dressings, Soups, Entrees, Sauces, Side Dishes, Desserts, Baked Goods, Faux Fare, Odds & Sods, and DIY. The DIY section clearly aren’t recipes. It is like a little punk pinterest chapter with little bits and ideas to use some of the “junk” around the house. I personally didn’t use any of these ideas, but there are some fun ones. It is also worth noting that the Desserts and Entree sections are subdivided into smaller categories. There are A LOT of entrees and A LOT of desserts to choose from.

Writing

It is funny reading both How It All Vegan and this book from front to back, and seeing the difference in writing styles. You can see how Tanya’s voice comes through. I find Sarah Kramer’s overall writing style a little more scattered brained and light hearted. Some descriptions are purely submission letters, as not all recipes are written by Sarah, or simple a joke that has nothing to do with the recipe. There are so many recipes, that I understand that it is overwhelming to write a description for each one, and that it would probably get repetitive anyways. I mean, I am not sure how often people actually READ the descriptions anyways.

Overview

This is Sarah’s love letter to the fans. Clearly. It is also the most realistic cookbook to use in day to day life. They are short, simple, and made mostly for 2 people. The book is very transparent about which recipes are Sarah’s and which ones are made by fans. And you could be asking why release a book with so little recipes made by the author, but I like the idea that Sarah cherry picked the best recipes and put them in one book.

One of the things that I love about Sarah Kramer is that she is very friendly and seems to be very grateful for her fanbase. She is usually non-judgemental and doesn’t post much that seems “flaming angry vegan.” I am not 100% sure who is the best audience for this book, as I know a lot of beginners like to have photos of the recipe. I understand this want and need, it can be hard to feel inspired to try a recipe otherwise. But if you can look past that, there are a lot of great recipes in here, and one that could keep you busy for the entire year.

The Recipes

Here are my individual recipe reviews. Two things to note- since most of these recipes are all ones I’ve made over the years, some are just ones I remember. Some recipes I am pretty sure I’ve made but can’t remember any specifics. I also left links to any recipes I found online. Normally I only link approved recipes, but this book is out of print, and there wasn’t that many available. I came to conclusion that the links, if anything, might encourage readers to buy the book if they liked the recipe.

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Posted by Jennifer in Book Review, Reviews Tags: book review, cookbook review, la dolce vegan, Sarah Kramer

5 comments

Blog Recipe Round Up: Savory Balls

March 26, 2018

I might be a little immature, as I find anything with the word “balls” a little funny. But they are all over the world, everyone in different countries take food and roll them into round shapes. Here are just a few vegan recipes I get a go. These are purely ones that are savory, not sweet. Those will be saved for another recipe round up.

Turnip Chickpea Meatballs

I saw this recipe and thought- I have a lot of turnip in my fridge- this recipe will be great! Sort-of. Lets talk about prep before the taste. The recipe calls for 4 cups grated turnip, claiming one smallish-medium turnip would yield that much… WHAT?! I grated probably 8-9 turnips (mind you I made a double batch) and tried to lightly fill the measuring cup, and ended up taking away a whole cup of turnip from the recipe (half a cup for the a non-double batch) This drives me nuts! Please include weights! So people can have a better idea if they are using about the right amount.

Then the recipe has a lot of steps. Cook some buckwheat, cook onion, then turnips, then mix, roll, and bake. I spent probably an hour in the afternoon getting the mix all ready. I feel like you probably could of used buckwheat flour and saved lots of time.

So what about the taste? Well, if these were the most amazing veggie balls, I might be okay with all this work. They weren’t. They were just okay. Not bad, not great, but still tasty. Yeah I used up so much turnip, and freed up a lot of space in my fridge (thank goodness) but I wouldn’t make these again because of time.

Bottom Line: Not bad, but a lot of work

Cauliflower Kofta Curry

File this under “WHY DIDN’T THIS WORK?!” Flavors were perfect. The sauce was amazing, and there was some leftovers that I used for leftover naan pizzas. But the kofta balls just were not staying together. The cabbage fell apart in the sauce, and I think they just needed something more to bind them together. Maybe even deep frying them? I would gladly make the creamy tomato sauce again for curry styled pizzas though.

Bottom Line: Big Thumbs Down

Savory Miso Tahini Oat Balls

What I love about these Miso Tahini Oat Balls is that they aren’t a “dinner” sort of ball like a meatball, or protein replacement. These are made for mid-day snacking, which is great since most mid-day snacks revolve around sugar. It gets very annoying after awhile, and the savory snacks are usually heavy on salt and fat (hello potato chips!)

Hands down Lacy NAILED these! Everything is well portioned and doesn’t use too much of any specific ingredient, which is nice since most are kind-of pricey. The time it took to make them is low, like maybe 10 minutes of mixing, grinding, and rolling, and bake time takes as long as it would for cupcakes.

The downfall is that the balls are a little crumbly, which isn’t the end of the world. Next time I might try making these in a large brownie pan and cutting them into a bars. This might make a little bit less of a mess and make it easy to pack for on the go. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Bottom Line: These are a great snack food

Lentil Mushroom Walnut Balls

These lentil mushroom balls were a recommendation from the Oh She Glows website as a good Thanksgiving dish. I figured that these would be a good protein for my dinner. The balls weren’t particularly hard to make, but took a good bit of time to finely chop the mushrooms, greens, and pre-cook some of the food.

The end result is delicious, but didn’t travel well to a dinner. To reheat the balls became dried out. Looking back, I probably would of made these balls far in advance and freeze them. Somehow I think the freezing process would keep the moisture in the balls.

Bottom Line: Eat right away, time consuming

Beet Ball ‘N’ Fries Salad

This was a yummy flavor combo but I had a little trouble with the beet balls. They were very delicate, but that might of been because my lentils didn’t cook all the way with the instructions provided. I am wondering if a soften lentil would of resulted in a better ball?

I think my husband just wanted to have beet burgers and fries, but I kind-of liked the salad combo. Maybe because it means more dressing? Maybe because I just want more lettuce? Who knows. It is a great way to satisfy a burger craving when you know you need to cram in a few more veggies in your meal.

Bottom Line: Delicate balls, yummy combo

Kidney Bean Koftas

I saw these kidney bean koftas on Vegan MOFO, and it is worth starting out that the theme was “zombie apocalypse” aka cook with what you have at home. So this recipe first got me thinking “she should of had this sauce” or “it would taste great with this.” But that isn’t the point of the recipe. The point is give a base to your meal to work around.

These came together really easily. I technically used dried beans that I cooked up, so not in the last minute put it together spirit. But whatever. It was a long day, I didn’t even think I would make dinner, but I figured I would see how much I could get done before Wolfie freaked out. I GOT IT ALL DONE!

I made half a batch with half the curry powder and no salt for Wolfie. The other half I adding the salt and the rest of the curry. We ended up halving the size of the balls, and making sandwiches with leftover fennel slaw and chutney. It was AWESOME! I strongly suggest pairing these balls with a “wet” ingredient. A sauce, chutney, slaw, etc. Wolfie had the same idea dipping his in his yogurt and pear.

Bottom Line: Quick, yummy, baby approved. Continue reading →

Posted by Jennifer in Food Review, Reviews Tags: balls, lentils, miso, mushrooms, oats, oh she glows, recipe roundup, Rise Shine Cook, salad samuari, super strength health, tahini, Taste Space, Terry Hope Romero, vegan richa, Walks talks and eats, walnuts

6 comments

My Vegan Restaurant: The Tasty

March 9, 2018

The Tasty

1401 South 12th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
website | facebook | instagram | twitter

Awhile ago I talked about the divide in vegan restaurants in Philly. They are either for rich people with fancy cocktails or healthy eats. The other restaurants are greasy fast-diner food owned by punks. Although the gap is filling in (I also ignored to mention all the Asian owned vegan places), this restaurant falls into the greasy punks camp. In fact, I am told that many of the employees are actually part of bands, I won’t name them to protect the privacy of the individuals.

My dining bud Justine, showing me the ropes of her fav restaurant.

BUT I will mention the owners. Their names are all over the fucking place. I remember there being quite a few article being written about the store opening up, I am not sure if it is because local papers thought the new owners were famous enough, or if the original store was a legendary favorite (once Atlantic Pizza), or perhaps this always happens when a new restaurant opens and I just don’t notice. The owners are Kate Hiltz (manager & producer of The Bouncing Souls, and runs the label Chunksaah), Sofia Baltopoulos, and Ben Pierce (guitarist/keyboardist for Restorations). If you want to learn more about the owners, I suggest reading this interview.

The Tasty is pretty far south. Most of their crowds are locals, maybe some suburbinites (hello me!), but I doubt they get any tourists with a capital T since you need to drive to get here. Sure you can walk, but it might take awhile (it’s as far south as Grindcore House) expect to walk for 20 minutes from Center City. But I will say it is worth the trek, the food is amazing!

Self serve station with water, coffee fixings, and silverware.

I went with my vegan friend Justine. she loves this place, and frequents The Tasty on weekends, particularly the day after a show. She says the place gets packed on weekends, so she was thrown off when we were one of the few people there. The place is designed to order at the front, then to take a seat. They’ll call your order up, and you pick up.

In case your are dying to find out what is going on with mug, click for the far side cartoon

The atmosphere of this place is awesome. There are nice teal walls, mix and match plates, and tons of novelty mugs for your coffee or tea. They also have booster seats for children, which weren’t terribly amazing, but were incredibly clean. The shape of the place is unique as the building it located at a very sharp corner, making the place feel even more quaint AF. Yup, the place is just oozing adorable-ness.

So what did we get? This place is predominantly breakfast/brunch/lunch. They are opened between 7am-4pm weekdays, 7am-3pm weekends. There has been rumors that the owners would like to be open later, but nothing yet. So the menu has lots of sandwiches, pancakes, and scrambles. Justine got the spinach and soysage. She ate a good portion and seemed to get it often (maybe?) So I am going with it tasted awesome, even though I didn’t have a bite of it. Basically it is a tofu scramble with their soysage, spinach, caramalized onion, and some vegan mozzerella cheese.

As for me? Well, I had something that I don’t see on their online menu. I got their cheezsteak, but I am 99% sure they had a specific option where it was covered with BBQ sauce. Their online menu has something similar with mushrooms, but no cheese. I liked my version best, so much seitan and yummy gooey cheese. Yum! All the sandwiches have an option of waffle fries, tater tots, or a salad. I went with the tater tots.

Is the place baby/kid friendly? I mean I assume so. Wolfie was way too distracted by his spoon to actually eat any of the food, but we got him a side of scrambled tofu and he ate my tater tots. Sadly the tater tots were fairly crispy so he had a hard time biting into them (he had only oven baked ones in the past.) He ate some of the scrambled tofu, but it was a little dry and not in big clumps so he had a hard time eating it with his hands. It shouldn’t be much of a problem for older children.

If you are visiting Philly with a car, I strongly recommend checking this place out. There is a wide range of prices you can spend in here. You can grab breakfast sandwiches for less than $5, or you can get a big spread like were did for $10. If you get a big spread there is a good chance you will have extra leftovers that you can save for the next day. So, come and make the trip, you’ll be happy you did. Greasy vegan breakfast foods can be hard to find in restaurants.

Posted by Jennifer in Food Review, Reviews, Tour Pennsylvania, Traveling, Vegan Pitstop Tags: my vegan restaurant, Philadelphia, the tasty, Tour PA, vegan pitstops, vegan restaurants

8 comments

The Great Vegan Grains Book Review

March 7, 2018

Shop on Amazon or Barnes and Noble

Kittens Gone Lentil

This month I reviewed The Great Vegan Grains Book. I got it for Christmas this year, and I have been wanting this book for quite sometime. I wanted to know more about various different grains, and get more comfortable cooking with them in the kitchen. So let’s jump into the review!

Photos

Not every recipe has a photograph and that is okay. There is enough to sustain interest, all are beautiful and very inviting. They do a great job making the photos different enough from each other, especially when many of the dishes are pilafs, grain salads, etc. Almost all are in bowls, you know? They also make sure they take photos of dishes that need a photo- like polentas, balls, etc so that the reader understand what the dish is and should look like to prevent confusion.

Set-up

This has the classic layout of modern cookbooks, a short introduction then the recipes with some random staples in the back. The staples in the back were favorites from other cookbooks from the authors. I didn’t make any of these, but they looked good. The different recipe categories are Eye-Opening Grains (Breakfast), Grains Mains for All Appetites (Entrees), Super Side It with Grains (Side Dishes), and finally Great Grains Soups and Salads (Soups and Salads.)

Some of the recipes I felt like they could of bounced in and out of the various categories. I guess maybe the “side dishes” were best described as dishes you would serve with something else, not putting into a box of “grains” “vegetable” or “protein” category.

Writing

The writing style was good, but not particularly interesting. Oof… that sounds so much harsher than what I intend it to. I think the focus of the writers are the recipes, not on their writing style. And I think that is fine and good especially since people usually just go ahead and cook.

BUT…. I have a major complaint, think this book needs more writing! Simply put I remember seeing in Susan’s review that she didn’t seem to know (at the time) what einkorn was. Well, I feel like the authors could of done something better to try and make it more clear what each grain was. I get that if you don’t read the beginning it doesn’t make too much of a difference, but I have some ideas of how to make the differences more apparent. I think pointing out these differences are super important. Especially with corn. Yup, the authors don’t know much about corn, cause they give a recipe for grits, and it isn’t definitely not grits. Pretty much grits are of a finer consistency, and they are made from hominy (lime-treated corn) making it easier to digest. Although it is a subtle difference, I think it should be noted- especially since there are so many different wheat products listed in this book. No distinction of all the different rice varieties either, which there are many that can confuse a newbie.

Overview

Lately I feel like I’ve been slamming recipe books. So I will start with the good part about this book- the recipes rock! For a book about whole grains, these recipes are really simple and easy to make. At first I scoffed at the recipes as they called for already cooked grains most of the time, but I find that it made the dinners faster to cook. Just cook the grain over the weekend and freeze, or cook in the morning before work, storing it in the fridge. Then it is all super fast cooking for dinner. With the exception of the Berbere Kamut, I think everything was pretty easy, and not too time consuming. I think the authors REALLY got creative on ways to use up grains, and they were really thoughtful about cultural appropriation but still having a wide range of different ethnic foods to feature. I wasn’t wowed by the first recipe- the chickpea curry millet, but everything else has been great in the flavor department. I can see why Tamasin Noyes and Celine Steen have so many books under their belt.

But I have to be truthful- I am VERY disappointed with this book. One, as mentioned, is that there is too much wheat in this book. I have nothing against wheat. I think it can be great. But half of the recipes I made use wheat, and boy did I gravitate to those recipes. I had to really try and seek the non-wheat recipes. Part of the reason why I picked up this book is that I wanted to variate my grains, and in western society, wheat is the most common option. I am also sure that MANY people are trying to do gluten free by picking up this book, and this quickly narrow down the options.

My second biggest complaint is because of the title. If you are naming your book the “great grains book” I expect it to be BIGGER! If the book was just “The Vegan Whole Grains Cookbook” I would of been fine, but “GREAT grains BOOK” it implies a massive selection, and the lacking of “cook” from “book” suggests there will be lots of information. I know this seems a little critical, but I think this is what I wanted and expected in this cookbook, and it clearly fell short. Maybe I am a little nerdy and outdated with cookbook expectations, but I feel like they have completely stopped providing detailed information. If I did this cookbook I would of divided it by grain, giving instructions on how plainly cook the grain, provide information of the different variations, and give a few recipes. Then maybe there would be a chapter at the end with “mixed grain” recipes. Would some chapters be longer than others? Yeah, and that would be fine.

So did this book live up to my expectations? Mostly nope. I am a little bit more comfortable in the kitchen with certain grains, mostly wheat groats. Not so much the other stuff. Oh well. But I am still very happy to have this book because the recipes ARE good. And there are more recipes I want to try out in the future. I wouldn’t want to pay the retail suggested price of $23, but the lower Amazon and Barnes and Noble for $12-17 seems to be a perfect price in my opinion. So I recommend this book, just don’t expect an encyclopedia like I did.

Recipes

Continue reading →

Posted by Jennifer in Book Review, Reviews Tags: book review, celine steen, cookbook review, tamasin noyes, the great vegan grains book

4 comments

Isa Does It Book Review – Revisited

February 24, 2018

Jenny Marie is trying to challenge herself to start using her cookbooks more. I don’t have this issue (at least at the moment) as I am use to cooking hearty meal every, fucking, day. I am sure one day I’ll have a melt down and force my family to eat steam veggies and butter pasta for two months straight. But for now, I thought I would try my best to follow along when I can.

For the month of February she wanted to cook from Isa Does It. I already reviewed this book, and I’ve cooked A LOT from it. So I thought, why not do a cookbook update? I’ll review the recipes I’ve tried since the post, and try and cook a few more recipes. Remember, these are just recipe reviews, if you want the whole overview- check out my review.

And as I’ve been doing this year with my cookbook reviews, here are some other recipe reviews of this cookbook. If you have a blog post about recipe reviews, comment and I’ll add it to the site.

Becca Does It – Cook Easy Vegan – Herbivore’s Heaven Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 – Kittens Gone Lentil – My Apologies for the Novel – Veganopoulous – A Woman in Real Life

Bhindi Masala with Black-Eyed Peas
Section: Stews, Chilis, & Curries
I’ve made quite a few okra curries, mostly because it is a crop that does well at my CSA and I hate eating it any other way. I was trying to see if it could switch it up with this recipe, and it was a little disappointing. It is super tomato heavy, which gives a nice burst of flavor and acidity. I am not a huge fan of the black eyed peas, as it makes the dish feel like it is in limbo between some sort of southern dish and indian food.

Overall the dish is palatable, and I think could surprise anyone who doesn’t really like okra. It removes most of the slim, and is very flavorful. BUT I think there are better okra dishes to introduce people to.

Cast-Iron Stir-fry with Avocado, Basil & Peanuts
Section: Stir-Fries & Sautees
This was one of the dishes I was able to make this month. I figured it was something new from the book, and figured why not? Naturally there is a wrinkle in recipe, I didn’t have a cast-iron skillet. I just used my wok, I can’t imagine it making THAT much of a difference. Used the suggestion times saute times, followed the recipe pretty much to a T.

The results were pretty yummy, though nothing life changing. I make a lot of stir-fries, and this one didn’t offer any unique flavors, but was still great. It was easy to follow, fairly cheap ingredients, and pretty fast once you get everything prepped. I think the unique part of this recipe is that she tops the stir-fry with fresh avocado, which my husband liked. Even though it wasn’t unique, it is a solid stir-fry recipe.

Chana Masala
Section: Stews, Chilis, & Curries
Recipes: Isa Chanda.com
This is one of my summer favorites. When my CSA is producing tons of tomatoes, it isn’t a big deal to use up three pounds of tomatoes in one dish. In my area, that many tomatoes can cost $9 overall or $12 organic. It isn’t the worst amount of money when you consider that it makes 4 servings, etc, etc. But when your cheap like me, it is a big deal. Wait? I’ve gone horribly off track.

So I guess my whole point about the tomatoes, is that using fresh results in a very different Chana Masala than using canned tomatoes. If you used canned tomatoes, which you totally can, I find that you get two totally different dishes. Canned results in a sweet dish, and fresh results in a much more acidic dish. I like how Isa does have two different chickpea curry dishes in her book, showing the difference.

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies with White Chocolate Chips
Section: Desserts
I didn’t use white chocolate chips for this. Too expensive, and too hard to find. But I was really happy with the end results. I love the texture and chewiness of the cookies. It has been awhile I’ve gotten such great results. I am not 100% sold on the ginger chocolate combo. I know Wolfie wasn’t a fan- though it didn’t stop him for asking for more, as if each bite would taste different. I think I will try this without the ginger, as the texture and bake of the cookies were too perfect.

Creamy Potato-Leek Soup
Section: Soups
My husband was super proud of himself for picking the recipe, and I wasn’t impressed. I mean, it wasn’t bad. Maybe I just don’t care about potato leek soup? Both are boring ingredients, and one is expensive (the leeks) I think we made it in part because we got leeks from our CSA. Who knows. It also felt like a whole lot of work for very little return. Again, not bad, just not worth it…? Maybe that’s the best summary.

Curried Peanut Sauce Bowl with Tofu & Kale
Section: Bowls (& a Few Plates)
Recipe: Veg Kitchen
I am not sure why I find bowls so intimidating. Maybe I am afraid of all the dishes at the end? Or something. This one was pretty easy to put together. Not too many dishes, nothing was particularly hard to do. So I finally tackled it, and had mixed feelings.

The sauce was clearly the star of the show. It really made the dish. Everything else was just so-so, which kind-of made me not fall in love with the dish. Would I make this again? Possibly. I might just feel free to add a little more personality for the other components of the dish.

Edamame Hummus & Tofu Wraps
Section: Handhelds
This is a super easy meal to put together. Just wiz together the edamame hummus, and grill the tofu. The wrap all up. I liked how fast these were to make, in fact they could be faster if you use prepared pressed tofu. We ate them for dinner, but I used the leftovers for lunch. I liked how “flexible” the veggies are, making it easy to modify for the different seasons. I’ve made it a few times now.

Eggplant & Bread Crumb Fettuccine
Section: Pasta & Risotto
This is another Jon picked recipe, that he was really proud about. I remember it clearly, I asked him to pick a recipe and listed some of the produce from our CSA we had to use up, eggplant was one. And this was a winner despite my skepticism. This was really easy to make and put together. One of those “30-minute” type of meals. If I were to guess, this was Isa’s answer to a breaded eggplant parm-pasta. It tasted great, but a pretty basic flavor overall (I mean eggplant doesn’t have a HUGE flavor).

Everyday Pad Thai
Section: Stir-Fries & Sautees
Recipe: Isa Chandra.com
I avoided this recipe for the longest time. I remember making Brooklyn Pad Thai from Vegan With A Vengence and hating it. In my defense, I had many peanut heavy pad thais, and therefore, wasn’t what I was expecting. Finally I bit the bullet and made this one, and I can safely say it is one of tried and true go-to recipes.

Most ingredients are cheap and shelf stable. I get extra pre-pressed tofu and rice noodles from my local H-Mart since they are extra cheap there. The main veggie in this dish is broccoli, and that is super cheap. It is pretty easy to prep, and super salty and tangy. The best. But I do recommend having an open mind when trying this, most American restaurants have a peanut forward Pad Thai, and that isn’t really what they are like.

Gardeny Shiitake & Chard Fusilli
Section: Pasta & Risotto
This seemed like an easy meal to quickly make, and I had chard to use up. I liked the choice of pasta because the noodles were able to cling to the sauce and veggies pretty well. As mentioned it has an earthy taste, and definitely not a dish to eat if you aren’t a mushroom fan. But I liked everything pretty well, and will probably make it again.

Goddess Noodles
Section: Pasta & Risotto
I am starting to get the feeling that there is a lot of broccoli in this book. Or maybe I’ve been avoiding making broccoli for years and only now decided to try out these recipes? Or maybe it is just that 2017 was a great year for broccoli at my CSA and I actually needed recipes to use it up.

This is a super easy recipe. It was quick to make, and I can’t remember if I used whole wheat linguini or regular spaghetti. It seems obvious that I would like this since it uses some of my favorite foods- broccoli, tempeh, and tahini. My husband thought the dish was so-so. Neither tahini or tempeh are his thing.

Lentil-A-Roni
Section: Pasta & Risotto
This is another fan favorite in the book. I made this and was pretty happy with it. This is one of those recipes that I never think about making, but whenever I do I am pretty happy with it. Funny thing is that I can’t remember why I even bother making it? And why I never think about making it again? Maybe because I never had meals like this before? Who knows. It is a very agreeable dish that almost anyone would love.

Omaha Yakisoba with Red Cabbage & Corn
Section: Stir-Fries & Sautees
I was hesitant to make this recipe since I remember making yakisoba spaghetti squash and not being very impressed. The recipe seemed so simple I was afraid I would be disappointed. The recipe had the opposite effect- it was awesome!

All ingredients are pretty cheap, which makes it easy to justify buying the more expensive frozen or fresh udon noodles. This really make the dish go from good to great. I made this dish towards the end of 2017, so I think when corn is fresh I will be making it more this summer.

Puffy Pillow Pancakes
Section: Breakfast, Brunch, & Bakes for the Morning
Recipe: Isa Chandra.com
Jon wanted to get Gavin on the breakfast bandwagon. He didn’t want to have a kid who wouldn’t like pancakes and french toast. So he was happy to try out this recipe. He liked how detailed the instructions were, which resulted in some pretty awesome pancakes. It is our go to recipe, and some of the other recipes we tried have been good, but not nearly as perfect as these.

Pureed Split Pea & Rutabaga Soup
Section: Soups
I got a few rutabagas from my CSA and although I love the taste, I am never too sure what to do with them. So they’ve been sitting in my fridge forever. I finally saw that this soup used rutabaga and I like split pea soup, so I figured why not? Well, I ran into some problems. One is that I ran out of rutabaga. Some went bad before making, so I had to use some mystery root that was leftover from my CSA (turnip? or radish?) The second problem is that I was out of rosemary, so I used tarragon instead.

The soup was pretty easy to make, and the photo in the book does a great job of making the worlds ugliest soup look awesome. But I am not sure if I like the whole flavor of star of anise with split pea. I might have to make this another time to make up my mind. So for now I am giving this a solid “not sure” rating.

Spinach & Black Bean Burrito Bowl
Section: Bowls (& a Few Plates)
This dish was so-so. This had the same issue as the other bowl dish. Not enough flavor for the individual components. So it pretty much tasted like quinoa, beans, and spinach. I don’t think there is much to say about this, other than you are very dependent from the condiments.

Sunflower Mac
Section: Pasta & Risotto
Recipe: Isa Chandra.com
This is NOT my favorite vegan mac and cheese recipe out there. But I understand that not everyone can have cashews. In fact, this is why I’ve made this recipe so many times already. My friend Justine can’t have cashews, and therefore I’ve made this recipe a few times for her. I do have some big issues- one is that the ratio of sauce to pasta is crazy! After making this the first time, I added more pasta, and I let it sit for a minute or two before serving so the pasta soaks up some of the sauce.

My second issue is that I’ve had better tasting non-cashew mac and cheeses. I really like Chloe’s Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese, it is practically perfect. By all means, this isn’t TERRIBLE, just not as good as what it could be.

Tofu-Mushroom Stroganoff
Section: Pasta & Risotto
Recipe: Oregon Live
Another recipe my husband happily picked out. He was super excited about it, and it tasted amazing. I really need to make this dish more often, but for some reason I keep telling myself mushrooms are too expensive. Why I don’t know?

Anyways, this is a simple dish that packs a lot of flavors that aren’t normally thought of with vegan foods- creamy and umami. The choice of fusilli is perfect because it captures all the sauce, which holds a lot of the flavor. This recipe is one of the best in the book, which is probably why you see it on so many online sources.

Posted by Jennifer in Food Review, Reviews Tags: cookbook, cookbook review, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, isa does it

11 comments

My Vegan Restaurant: Whole Foods Restaurant Row + CHeU Noodle Bar

February 19, 2018

Whole Foods Restaurant Row

2101 Pennsylvania Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19130
website | facebook | instagram

CHeU Noodle Bar

255 South 10th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
website | facebook | instagram | twitter

Oh my. This is definitely a late post. It is probably- a year old? Maybe less. This was either Valentines Day, or for our anniversary (in May) Regardless, this post is so overdue that the food we got isn’t even available here anymore. So this post is a little all over. So lets start with what happened.

So Jon and I took a romantic trip in Philadelphia to visit the art museum and grab some grub. We originally wanted to get a cheesesteak from Whiz Kid. At the time they were JUST opening their brick and mortar store front, but only had a location at Whole Foods. So my husband and I went, and was surprised. The Whole Foods had moved since I’d last been there, making me very confused and panicked. Jon was already a little annoyed we were going to Whole Foods for lunch instead of someplace only found in Philly, so I felt extra pressure to not get us lost, and therefore extremely hungry from not eating. Luckily a local heard our confusion, and told us where to go (pretty much behind the Barnes Museum.) The new location is much nicer, providing more parking, a shopping cart elevator (THE BEST PART), and what they call restaurant row.

So I thought it would be worth the time to talk about this new restaurant row. I loved the idea especially since finding a vegan restaurant near the parkway can be hard. If you are visiting Philadelphia to visit The Franklin Institute, The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Rodin Museum, or The Barnes Foundation I strongly suggest stopping here. You can easily buy a snack of fresh fruit, ice cream, chips, snack bar, anything you could find at a normal Whole Foods, but they also have options of drinks and food made fresh.

Let’s start with the booze. This was my favorite part, though I wasn’t really getting anything. I was still pretty sleep deprived at this point and having one beer for lunch probably wouldn’t of been the greatest. But you can get REALLY cheap beer on tap here. I am pretty sure the cheapest beer was $4, and it looked like it was a local craft beer!

Beer not you thing? I’m pretty sure there was wine- I mean look at that photo- that looks like wine bottles behind that lady right? I am pretty oblivious to wine, soooo… sorry guys for being a crummy reporter. lol. There was also a “cocktail” bar. I am pretty sure you can get the cocktails at the beer/wine bar, but they had another booth just for seasonal cocktails, which was closed at the time.

Don’t drink alcohol at all? Then you can check out the coffee bar that’s found at almost all Whole Foods. Pretty much I treat my local Whole Foods as a coffee shop anymore since they do not charge extra for soy or almond milk. Plus they have some of the best almond milk ever. Just take note that the coffee is on the first floor by the street entrance. Everything else is on the second floor.

Then you have the restaurants. There are little booths all set up in a row near the front of the store, kind-of looking like the little booths you see at malls. At the time we went there was CHeU and Wiz Kid, but they are now gone. I am not sure if this is a decision by Whole Foods, or the owners of the restaurants to move on out.

CURRENT VEGAN OPTIONS ON RESTAURANT ROW:

Clearly the restaurants rotate to keep things fresh. As of posting this in February 2018, these are the current options at restaurant row. There is ALSO a coffee, beer, and cocktail bar that will have varying vegan options. I recommend double checking the current restaurant listing Whole Foods Website to see their most up-to-date listing of restaurants.

Dizengoff 11 am – 8 pm
This restaurant chain offers middle eastern food. Although some of their specialities are meat based, most everything is vegan. Expect hummus with rotating seasonal toppings. Read review of the original store location here.
Goldie 11 am – 8 pm
This restaurant serves 100% vegan options. You can expect hot falafels, fries, and tehina shakes.

CHeU:

When Jon and I went, we ate at CHeU. This was a place I wanted to check out for awhile now. I deeply miss eating a good bowl of ramen. I knew they had a vegan option out there, so when Wiz Kid was closed, I was more than happy to grab a bowl from here.

When you go to CHeU, you won’t be getting a traditional bowl of ramen. The food is definitely fusion cuisine, the owners are very open about their lack of authenticity. And the beauty of CHeU is that their menu is small. This can be a blessing or a curse. If you are an adventurous eater, this is great. You get one option that is vegan, but it is solid and well thought out. If you are a picky eater, well, you have only one option.

The classic Coconut Curry Ramen Noodles

Okay, well you get a little more than one option. The food is labeled as vegetarian, though it appears only one can not be made vegan. I also recommend DOUBLE CHECKING with servers. Philadelphia is a pretty vegan friendly area, so staff is probably use to the question. So here are your options as of February 2018:

Broccoli (small bites, ask for no pork)
Sweet and Sour Brussel Sprouts (small bites)
Coconut Curry Noodles (bowls)
Sichuan Spicy Fat Noodles (bowls)
Shrimp Yakisoba (bowls, sub tofu, no egg)
Chicken Karaga Rice Bowl (bowls, sub tofu, no egg)
Kimchi & Bok Choy (add ons for bowls)

No longer on the menu T_T Yummy Cold Sesame Noodles topped with kimchi

When went, the menu was a little different. Yes, there was the Coconut Curry Noodles, but there was also Cold Sesame Noodles. These were really yummy, and Jon was happy with his decision. The noodles were really chewy, and dish was just the right amount of spicy.

I got the Coconut Curry Ramen, which seems to be a classic option that is still on the menu. It was just what I wanted it to be. I was afraid it would be too dense, like a thick curry sauce. The spice and flavor wasn’t overwhelming, and the coconut added a creamy slippery texture to the broth. The noodles were chewy, and there were nice bursts of fresh flavor from the garnishes.

Naturally this trip wasn’t for reviewing, so the photos are just with the iPhone. If you want something prettier, I suggest taking a look at Ted Ngheim’s blog with his photos of the store location. I strongly recommend checking this place out. Clearly they are pretty aware of having vegan options available, and do a pretty darn good job considering how limited the menu is to begin with. I strongly recommend this place if visiting the city. It is in the heart of center city, and is perfect for a quick meal.

Posted by Jennifer in Food Review, Reviews, Tour Pennsylvania, Traveling, Vegan Pitstop Tags: cheu, cheu noodle bar, my vegan restaurant, omni restaurant, Philadelphia, restaurant, restaurant row, restaurants, Tour PA, vegan pitstops, whole foods

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