I really enjoy Korean food. I suppose this recipe could of been placed for the “share your favorite cuisine” prompt on day 25, but this recipe is so simple! I am not the type of person who does “quick” and “easy” unless it is re-heating older dishes. I can tell you right now that this isn’t a “healthy” recipe. I am not sure what the health benefits are outside of the carrot.
If you aren’t familiar with Korean food you probably have never heard of this dish. If you are going to a Korean restaurant in the US, you probably would get served these as an appetizer. But in Korea they are often served in street stalls and speciality restaurants. At the speciality restaurants it is usually that you order a big serving of rice cakes (according to your party) and order add ins. I first was introduced to this concept from the Korean show Let’s Eat. The main character Soo-kyung orders a big pan of Ddukbokgi (spicy rice cakes) with ramen, and lots of other non-vegan foods. It is a great scene to sell the dish with all or orgasmic moaning and all.
This recipe is super simple, you can make it on the fly for yourself for lunch or as a starter. But you can easily make a more sustainable meal by doing the add ins. Traditional add ins aren’t really vegan, eggs, fish cakes, blood sausage, mandu (pork dumplings) and cheese. But some options are vegan like ramen noodles, rice, and fried batter. You can sub some vegan versions of the food like some daiya cheese, vegan sausages, veggie dumplings, and fried tofu. Look, I never said this stuff was healthy. This Korean COMFORT food.
Now, let’s talk ingredients! Although this is simple to cook (sauté carrots and rice cakes, then boil in a spicy sauce) the ingredients might seem a little foreign if you don’t have easy access to asian food market. The ingredients that will be hard to find are the rice cakes and gochujang. Gochujang is a thick paste made from fermenting chili peppers. I wrote about it on the blog, and give a recipe for cheaters gochujang. Gochujang is starting to pick up in popularity, and I was able to pick up a pack at Wegman’s!
The rice cakes are fairly common in lots of other asian cuisines. You can buy them in a log to slice, or you can get them precut. They can come in many different shapes, like these flat ovals that I used, little spheres, or long logs. There are even novelty shapes like stars, but they tend not to be available in the US. (if you want a sneak peak at the fun shapes, you can check out this REALLY old Eat Your Kimchi video) Try going to HMart, which specializes in specifically Korean foods. But most Asian food markets should have rice cakes. They need to be refrigerated (which is why they are hard to buy online), so check in those sections. And keep in mind mochi is different from the rice cakes for this recipe. Mochi is usually sold sweetened. If you are worried, check the ingredients.
So start with this simple recipe, and next time, jazz it up. Add sausages, some soy cheese, more veggies, whatever your mind can think of. This is seriously a yummy meal, and quick to make.
I didn’t grow up with the “normal” childhood foods. My mother is very open to new types of foods and loved to cook. I remember when we would make a list of food for the week, and being asked what I wanted. I blurt something out like lasagna, then be shut down “We already have a pasta dish” or “We are already having Italian on Tuesday.” Variety was a huge priority. I guess it still is. When I ask my husband if there is something he wants to eat, his response is usually “We have so many things, I don’t remember all the dishes.”
I remember couscous, falafels, pancake dinners (which I hated), tuna casseroles, rice and beans, and seafood quiches. Not the normal kid foods like mac and cheese, hotdogs, and hamburger helper. Actually funny story, I tried making the tempeh helper in Appetite for Reduction and wondering what the hell to do with the cheese sauce. I am still not sure what to do with it- I just mix it all in with everything else.
We did get excited for pizza night. It is possibly the only thing I liked that my father would make. He rolled out huge square thin crust pizzas. The gold mine were the middle pieces since they had no crusts. Then we would get even more excited about calzone night when my older sister was feeling up for it. My perception of calzones is shaped by the ones we made at home. In fact whenever I would go out, I felt so disappointed by the restaurant versions. Too much cheese, not enough ricotta.
Even today I am still not sure how other people perceive calzones. My husband asked if I was going to put our recently made homemade tomato sauce (he picked 22 pounds of tomatoes last weekend) in the calzone and I flipped out on him. Tomato sauce is strictly for dipping! Sure you could add FRESH tomatoes to the inside, but never the sauce. Pretty much I like my calzones to be big giant white pizzas that are rolled up.
Pretty much anything can go in a calzone. Sky’s the limit. Leftover tofu, seitan, and facon-bacon are great meat replacement options. I usually keep it simple, red pepper oil, and sautéed veggies. I used sautéed red italia pepper and green bell pepper, then sliced raw shiitake mushrooms and marinated them in soy sauce and a little oil. But sun dried and fresh tomatoes, olives, canned mushrooms, broccoli, roasted garlic, and spinach (or any other green really) all make great fillings
So if you haven’t herd of red pepper oil yet, you are missing out. It is our secret weapon in the recipe. You can use Giada’s fancy recipe, or do what I do- mix oil and red pepper flakes and let sit for several hours. The longer it sits, the most intense the flavor. So if you are making calzones for dinner on Sunday, the hot pepper oil should be the first thing you make in the morning. There isn’t any official ratio to follow, but tend to do one tablespoon oil to one teaspoon red pepper flakes.
A lot of my “recreating” with this recipe was mostly just getting ratios right. I’ve made vegan versions in the past, but pretty much just making a tofu-ricotta filling for myself, and the original recipe for everyone else. I think I tried making a vegan version when I was in Philadelphia, but our oven was broken and we were left with raw dough covered in black smoke. I curse and was pissed by the wasted money. I probably would of thrown them out of the window if my husband wasn’t there. We weren’t married yet at the time, so I couldn’t let him see how freakin crazy I am.
So make sure your oven works so you aren’t tempted to throw these delicious calzones out the window.
The recipe takes awhile… really. Probably 2 hours overall including cleaning up and such. But it is well worth the time since I’ve never eaten a calzone that is similar in restaurants. The recipe makes 4 reasonable sized calzones, or 2 massive calzones. I made the smaller ones, but realistically, when I make them, we eat the massively sized calzones.
Welcome to Vegan MOFO 2015! The first prompt is talk about what you ate for breakfast. Most people get confused about what to serve a vegan for breakfast. Who can blame them? Pancakes, bacon, sausage, yogurt, milk, eggs, french toast, what is left to eat? Orange juice and toast? So we thought it would be a good idea to show a sample of what a typical breakfast is for us, including my husband.
Jennifer
Like a true (hippie-dippie) vegan, I start my breakfast off with a glass of homemade kombucha. I like adding the gut friendly bacteria to my diet each morning, and they are supposedly most helpful when consumed on an empty stomach. So I always pour myself a glass right away in the morning and drink it while I get some chores done, like putting away the clean dishes, washing any remaining pots and pans from the night before, or prepping a lunch for my husband and myself.
If I plan on working out, I try and have a very light “breakfast.” In the winter it is usually a small muffin, chia pudding, or a simple oat, water, and banana shake. But since I am swimming in produce, I ate a quarter of a giant yellow watermelon. This gives my tummy something to burn while I do my reps or go for a short run.
This morning I went for a run, so I had a shake when I got back. I always try to eat some spirulina in the morning to help with allergies and because it has so many good vitamins and minerals in it. There are pretty much two ways I eat spirulina– a chocolate shake or a matcha shake. This morning I ate a matcha shake. It is very simple and easy to put together since by the end of my workout I am always craving a cool drink with lots of calories.
Alexa
This was a really fun and easy experiment for me. I’ve been seeing one of my coaches at the gym to help me with my nutrition and eating to help aid my work-outs. I told her I was mostly vegetarian in diet (still livin’ that flexetarian lifestyle) so she helped me set up a meal plan based around that. Normally for breakfast I’ll eat 2 egg whites or 1 egg and 1 egg white along with 1/4 cup oatmeal (with 1 teaspoon of coconut oil mixed in) and a 1/2 cup of berries. Jen suggested that I try to make a tofu scramble for Vegan MoFo, which I had always wanted to do because I LOVE a good scramble, but had always been hesitant because I thought mine would never live up to what I’ve had in the past.
Well, it was incredibly easy to make this. And it turned out pretty well too! I’ve heard several people say they add nutritional yeast, turmeric or cumin to give the tofu some flavor and that yellow color of an egg scramble. I only had cumin in the house, but I also added a bit of curry powder and chili powder to it (and later I added sriracha…because I live for that sauce). I sautéed some onions, orange bell peppers and tomatoes in with the tofu and spices as well. Normally the eggs are supposed to help with getting some protein into my body post workout, as I’ll normally take a morning class. When Jen pointed out that that tofu has about as much protein as eggs does I felt a little bit better about maybe adding this into my routine a bit more often, but in smaller portions.
Oatmeal used to be a very “meh” ideal breakfast item for me. When Karen said I should put coconut oil into it and mix it with berries and a sprinkle of cinnamon I first thought “hmm, that’s interesting…” . Now I’m hooked. The consistency is perfect and I love the flavor of the coconut oil with berries. On occasion, such as today, I’ll substitute the oil for almond butter instead. Both options are great and this breakfast really keeps me full until lunch time, which ranges from about 12:30-1:30 depending on when I ate.
Jonathan
My husband is a creature of habit. My morning starts with kombucha sure, but each batch is different and I switch between types of tea to create the brew. Then my shakes and “pre-workout” food changes. Not my husband. When we first started dating he use to eat a bagel and cream cheese every single day. Then he found out that his tummy got upset by it, so he switched to oatmeal.
Boring plain oatmeal.
He was so proud of himself, he crunched numbers and found out that he would save so much by using the big container of quick cooking oatmeal. I asked if he wanted some sugar, cinnamon, anything else. Nope. Gross. I thought it might of been a family thing, perhaps his Mother and Father had plain oatmeal? When I asked about it apparently his mother doesn’t like oatmeal and his father was all “WHAT THE HECK THAT SOUNDS GROSS?!” So there is clearly something wrong with my husband.
BUT I did convince him to start adding granola to give a little boost since he was getting hungry too fast (duh, you are just eating oats!) And depending on the season, he will add some berries from our CSA or chopped apples that I prep for him. I didn’t take a picture of his oats because they are disgusting and I figured readers wouldn’t want to see naked mushy oats.
Then comes his second breakfast. Sure I have three different stages to my breakfast, but that is really just a “workout” thing. If I don’t run or lift, I just have one shake. But my husband is a calorie burning machine and needs to have a shake to drink when he gets to work. He is pretty boring, just chocolate or chocolate peanut butter, or just peanut butter. Lately I’ve been making him peach peanut butter shakes. But today was just chocolate.
The Coffee
We are all coffee people. Jon likes to have his coffee everyday and normally just gets the Wegman’s brand to save money. Jen finds this coffee too fruity for her tastes. But on special occassions Jen will buy him a special roast, like the Royal Mile Nicaragua Mama Mina that she got him for his birthday.
Jennifer on the other hand doesn’t drink coffee first thing in the morning. She drinks her cup around 10 am, probably because she finds coffee too harsh on an empty tummy. Sometimes she makes herself an iced latte before heading out to work using Black Cat Classic Espresso by Intelligentsia.
Alexa gets her coffee from Booskerdoo or Rook. She liked to get the big jar of coffee concentrate from Rook when she can, but finds that it actually disappears way faster than she would like, and is trying to limit herself to 1 coffee per day, it used to be up to 4 COFFEES on a bad (good?) day. She also loves everyone who works in her local coffee shops and wants to give them patronage because they are just the sweetest and really know their coffee.
So that’s it guys. Three vegan breakfasts. There are two shake recipes below if you want to be like us. Anyone else out there is a little freak and eats plain oatmeal? I think my husband needs team oats allies.
I was told that there is now a Lil’ Bub app available for the iPhone…so guess what I have now!?
A few weeks ago my friends Keith and Jenine along with Ian and I went on a little day trip. I’ve recently gotten a new phone with a much better camera and couldn’t wait to start taking some photos to share on the blog.
We started our trip by going to one of my new favorite breakfast spots called Meemom’s in Wall, NJ. I had originally stumbled upon the restaurant on instagram only to soon find out it’s only about a 15 minute drive from Keith and Jenine’s house. They are well known for their copious french toast options, but they have a very diverse menu and even offer options on the healthier side. I’ve been there a second time now since we went this weekend, and I can definitely say that I’ll be going back again, but maybe to try some of their other delicious dishes. They do offer a few vegan options (you could grab the Grandma’s Oatmeal, Fruitini, and Fresh Fruit Salsa from the snack cabinet part of the menu. You could also get a side of spuds, toast, or fresh fruit. Salads would include Mom’s Salad, Portobello, and Bleu-Berry sans cheese.), non of which are french toast options but I saw plenty of vegetarian friendly meals on the menu.
This was Ian’s breakfast for the morning. I actually have no recollection as to what he got, but dang did it look beautiful.
This “Churro” french toast was divine and is definitely my favorite item that I’ve tried so far.
*Disclaimer: I’ve actually been back since we’ve gone, I just had to bring my sister to this place and I had the “Campfire” french toast. It’s S’mores flavored. I loved it.
After Meemom’s we drove towards our first destination. The original plan for the day had been to visit a bunch of trails spread throughout northern New Jersey and hike to see the waterfalls on each of them. We started with Tillman Ravine which is a part of Stokes State Forest. I had visited Stokes when I was in the 6th grade, it was traditionally a trip that the 6th graders took every year, but I haven’t been back since. The weather was hot, but not too humid, so as far as I was concerned it was perfect hiking weather. Being underneath the shade of the trees and near the flowing water made everything a bit cooler and comfortable.
Later on we got a bit off course after we noticed we were a bit short on time to get to the next waterfall and trail. We were passing through a small town and Jenine happened to notice it was Millbrook Village, which she’d mentioned she has always wanted to visit. Millbrook is a historic, small town that had been abandoned in the 50’s. There was supposed to be something built in it’s place, but that never went through and now a little bit of history is left behind so people can visit and appreciate if they’re in the area. It’s always interesting to see what things used to look like and imagine the people living there.
My favorite part of visiting old abandoned places or historical buildings is all of the tools that have been recovered. Especially when they are set up like the tools in one of their barns on the property.
We stopped at a vintage-type “drive-in” diner called The Chatterbox for lunch. I wanted to take pictures because it was really cute and retro inside, and reminded me of something that Amanda and Katie would be all about, but It was just such a big space and the idea of a bunch of people staring at me with my iPhone taking pictures was the last thing I wanted when I was hungry. Chatterbox was apparently featured on the Food Network for one of their staple sandwiches (definitely not vegan or vegetarian friendly), but I opted for their veggie burger instead. It was pretty good, but the milkshake that Keith and I split was definitely what made the meal.
Once lunch was finished we stopped at Angry Erik’s Brewing in Lafayette Township. The brewery has only been around for about a year and it resides in a small building off a main drag in town. For being smaller and newer, I enjoyed every single one of the beers we tried.
The atmosphere inside was relaxed and very welcoming. We have been to a few breweries now as a group, and I know Jen and her husband have been to a few as well, and sometimes it feels a bit overwhelming just to get through the brewery tour (which is mandatory in New Jersey) depending on the size of the company. I would actually hope that Angry Erik’s gets to have a bigger space because that’ll mean they’re doing really well, but I would happily make a journey out that way to have more beer from them. I highly recommend it!
Day 234: I ended up in the “backroom” of my CSA and my father-in-law helped make some of these storage containers for squashes and such. That is a lot of spaghetti squash.
Day 235: Spent the morning making some peach chutney. It was awesome and makes me want to make some indian food.
Day 236: Wrote a spur of the moment review on these awesome chocolates by Ooh La La Raw Chocolates.
Day 237: Sneak peak to one of my vegan mofo recipes.
Day 238: This guy returns to my works, I’m getting better and better at photographing these little buns.
Day 239: This is the back of a really cool old truck. I don’t know why I love how the back faded.
Day 240: Trying to use my telephoto lens more. Practiced on these birds at the feeder at work.
I love snow peas, but there are really only two ways I eat them- stir-frys and pickled. I know pickling snow peas isn’t a common thing. The reason I bothered to make them was because my husband and I would come home with bags full of peas from our CSA. Although they were tasty, my husband kind-of put his food down at the idea of eating stir-fry dinners all week. So I took the extra snow and snap peas, cleaned and trimmed them and put them in a brine.
I wasn’t trying anything fancy or nice, just trying not to waste food. Turned out that my husband loved the pickles with his lunch, and a lot of his co-workers raised their eyebrows. Pickled snow peas? I find that brining them for three days results in soft peas with just enough crunch to them. They are sour but sweet. Really, they are amazing.
Usually I stay away from “traditional” pickling spices with these guys. I take advantage of the seasonal produce, and use the basil that is in season and garlic scapes. This batch I included some lemon slices, which was a nice addition. With brined pickles you want to keep citruses to a minimum because the acid can overwhelm the naturally occurring bacteria that keep your peas preserved.
The process is similar to making sauerkraut or kimchi. Salt, water, and bacteria are your main forms of preservation. Basically all you need to do is mix water with salt and add the veggies. The vegetables naturally have the bacteria needed to start fermenting. The cool thing is that each vegetable will have unique strains according the town, state, or country that you live in. After a certain point, there is so much of the good bacteria that it overwhelms the competition.
So why salt and water? Well this is a bad environment for most bacteria. The salt kills off molds, and the water prevents any oxygen for most bacteria to live off of. If there is mold that grows on the surface, just scrap it off, and the pickles should be fine. But this really hasn’t happened to me outside of really long ferments.
As mentioned before, I only ferment these for 3 days then I pop them into the fridge. They will continue to ferment but the cool temperatures slows down the process. You could leave them out at room temperature, but I would recommend shaking the bottle once each day to prevent mold from growing on the top. Plus over time your peas might get mushy from fermentation.
If you have dabbled in other kinds of fermentation like yogurt or kombucha, pickles should be a cinch. They are the safest and easiest form of fermentation. It is kind-of a bummer that it has become more popular in the US to do high acidic jarring over salt brines. These are so simple and easy to make and have great bacteria for your tummy.
Last note- if you compare the top photo to the bottom photo you will notice a change of color. The top photo is of the peas in the beginning and the last two photos are of the fermented pickles. They get a little more yellow and lack a certain vibrancy.
If you are worried about the food spoiling instead of fermenting, look for bubbles. The bacteria produces gas byproducts so you will see little bubbles get trapped in the veggies. This is also why you never want to fully twist the top on jar unless shaking the bottle up. Continue reading
I am fairly certain that Vegan Snack Attack is one of our most neglected “segments” on this blog. Alexa started a post last year in July, featuring chickpea snacks and a raw macaroon/chocolate. Then a month later I posted a review on Califia and some more raw chocolate. Then again in January of this year talking about all the chocolate I got for Christmas. I think you can guess that we like chocolate here.
Well, those Snack Attacks were pretty random, meaning we weren’t really planning to post them, just were kind-of inspired. And that is kind-of what happened today. Since moving I went to check out a local health food store to see what they had. I found these chocolates being sold. Now I normally wouldn’t shell out $7 for two small truffles/chocolates, but I knew they were raw and made by a local company. I also figured if I featured on the blog that would soften the spending blow.
The chocolates are made by Ooh La La Raw Chocolat, a fairly new company that is starting up in South Jersey. They currently are selling chocolates online, at Health Haven, Health Haven II, and had been featured in the Cherry Hill Whole Foods Hatchery. Well so far I ate one, and am saving the second for another day.
I got the chocolate covered caramel with almonds. The package came with two very large chocolates. I was expecting that the center would be more liquid but was rather similar to the chocolate coating only a slightly more crumbly. There were also small chunks of almonds giving a nice crunch. I can easily say this makes me think of truffles, with a chocolate mousse center. Although I loved the flavor, I am not sure “caramel” is the best description.
Personally, I find the price pretty high, but are a perfect high end treat. If you don’t eat chocolate often, then this is a great splurge. I will definitely be asking for these for Valentines Day from my husband, because I like getting fancy chocolate. I stand by the idea that dessert shouldn’t be cheap, and should be held to high quality standards. This chocolate fits the bill.
Day 227: I keep forgetting that when I go to my CSA to pick up my weekly share that there are tons of yummy garlic curing all on the roof rafters. I finally took a photo of them.
Day 228: Driving home Jon and I saw a huge deer family. There were lots of does and fawns. We tried to pull over to get some shots but it was getting dark and my first time shooting animals with my telephoto lens. Not the best pictures but we all need to start somewhere right?
Day 229: Toulouse decided to sleep on our comforter that smelled like a moldy basement. I spent all of Monday waiting for her to stop sleeping on it so I could give it a proper wash. Sadly, it still smelled nasty and it got thrown out. Sorry cat!
Day 230: There were so many cicada skins all over my work.
Day 231: When walking up to my work, I saw a bunny in the front lawn. I took out my camera trying to get a photo as fast as I could. As she ran away I tried using my continual shot option, and got the same body stance. So it looks like the bunny was running in sync with my camera shutter speed!
Day 232: Nope not my CSA. My bosses are growing some cashaw squash on the business property. And I will get some this fall!
Day 233: Went back and got a shot of the vine curly qs!
My goodness this week was pretty crazy! Everything crept up pretty fast and then it became the weekend. I figured I need to spend more time working at settling down in the house than updating the blog, which is why I haven’t been that good at updating the 365 posts on Saturday anymore. Oh and because of the farm trips. It is peach season here so every single week has involved us going to our CSA, and then going to the orchard. This week we picked so many peaches that we made chutney. And I am thinking that we still have enough for jam. Wow.
Alexa and I are also busy for VEGAN MONTH OF FOOD! They have a list of prompts and we will try and stick to them. We have some good ideas planned, and some not so much. So we will see how it goes. Especially with the 365 idea. I am not sure how I will incorporate that into the posts.
Anyways, I might not be as active the next week or so while we try and get our ducks in a row for Vegan MOFO. We also may or may not continue with the 365/Sunday Reads posts during that month. But I guess only time will tell what will happen.
**Note: Sorry guys that this post originally just have URLs below and no descriptions or links! I have NO idea what WordPress’ problem is right now. It keeps messing things up.
Farm Round Up:
What I got:
1/2 pint sungold tomatoes
1 quart of yellow pear tomatoes
1/2 pint blackberries
1 quart ground cherries with husks
25 lb yellow peaches
2 lb gala apples
2 lb red plums
1 large cantaloupe
1 large yellow watermelon
1/2 lb green beans
8 lbs slicing tomatoes
5 lbs tomatillos
5 1/2 lbs cherry tomatoes
3 lb purple potatoes
1/2 bag of mixed asian stirfry greens
3 asian eggplants
4 green bell peppers
1 bunch of radishes with greens
6 red italia peppers
7 jalapenos
4 poblano peppers
What I’m cooking:
Tomato Sauce + Pasta + Beet Balls
Tomatillo and Berry Crisp
Tomatilo Tofu Tacos
Yogurt, granola, and ground cherry/blackberry bowls
Yellow Watermelon Tequila Cocktails
Side salads with sungold tomatoes and radishes
Eggplant Stir-fry with Green Beans and Cashews
Greek Kale Stuffed Tomatoes from Pure Pleasures
Spaghetti Squash Yakisoba Style
Peach Chutney
Reading for the Week:
Jon and I are planning Halloween already. Gonna watch 6 episodes of Treehouse of Terror on Halloween, and we will be watching plenty of horror films and Goosebumps (hubby’s choice) for the month of October. And since we are in our first home, I said we would buy halloween candy, and showed my husband this PETA list of vegan candy to show him that we won’t get egged. (because that wouldn’t be vegan either)
I always like to put in some film info on this blog, and I love soviet russian media! Especially film! So I have to share this super bizarro propaganda film. It is a mixed media animation that takes place in space. Very surreal. Very cool visually.
So Alexa and I missed Sailor Moon Appreciation Day?
This week we got a watermelon, which is perfect timing because I’ve been craving some after seeing this huge watermelon!
This hot weather is making me swoon over this matcha mint sugar scrub.
I love how Gina breaks down protein in this new post. She makes it pretty simple and easy to figure out how much protein you need in your diet, and gives some great options. And she makes me feel better for giving my husband whole wheat PB&J sandwiches- 15 grams of whole protein? Hell yeah.
Washington Post asks the question- why aren’t conservatives going after fertility clinics if they don’t want fetuses to die?
I know that this isn’t the most vegan all videos. A giant heart…. but I know that sometimes these are the types of things that really get people to connect to other animals. Hopefully it helps put things in perspective for you, humans are the center, or the best.
I love Healthcare Triage because they don’t pussyfoot around. Aaron lays down exercise for what it is- a lot less that what we expect but really beneficial! I am always telling people that you don’t need to run a marathon- just moving. Like to garden? Do that! Cleaning the bathroom? That is actually fairly vigorous activity.
Another Healthcare Triage video that I think is pretty interesting. It goes over what the fuss is about Flibanstein and talks about human trafficking.
Espressit
18 Haddon Ave, Haddon Township, NJ 08108
website | facebook
When I first moved to the South Jersey area I remember all my coworkers pushing for me to check out Espressit since they had the best coffee in the area and vegan food. Sadly it was out of the way from where I lived and worked, so when I got there they would sell out of their vegan baked goods. But as the years went by their vegan goods have expanded, and expanded, and expanded! Now I would say this is a must see spot for the vegan community.
This is a coffee shop, so clearly they have vegan options for their drinks. They have vegan smoothies and options of almond or soy milk for lattes. They started offering vegan muffins and vegan snack bars. Their muffins are HUGE! They are a breakfast by themselves, or something to share with a person. There are also vegan cookies, which are also huge, and other seasonal desserts that they rotate.
Although getting vegan muffins and cookies is pretty cool, I am mostly excited about how they have vegan sandwiches, wraps, and burritos. It use to be a rare occurrence that they would have a sandwich by the time I came in, but I guess the demand has expanded. So there is now several different options to choose from as a vegan. Everything is clearly labeled and easy to figure out what you can eat. I personally love their Indian styled burrito.
It is worth noting that their whole store isn’t vegan or vegetarian. It shouldn’t stop you from popping in and grabbing a bite. Truthfully, they are in a small suburban town where being 100% vegan would probably be hard. But it makes a great spot to meet up with omni friends. You grab a vegan burrito and they can get their chicken wrap.
Now the menu for vegans have gotten even larger! There is a vegan hot bar! It starts after 4, but I haven’t had the joy of sampling the food. Sadly eating out for dinner during the week isn’t my thing. If their hot food is as good as their burritos and muffins then it will be well worth your time and money. I also point out that I am unsure if they are still doing it- it has been a couple of months since I’ve been there as it is pretty far from my new house.
What really makes Espressit so special is that the owner works hard to be part of the community. There are works of art hanging in the shop that usually rotate every month. There are live performances, movie nights, and more. Whenever I would pop in before work it seemed that there was always people in the area getting together to talk and catch up. This makes the place have such a great vibe, and makes it a great place to meet up and chat with someone (instead of reading a book by yourself).
