Almost Vegan

I really like pasta, and tonight I had pasta that was a little different — gnocchi.

I spotted this package of multi-colored gnocchi, (which means multi-flavored: plain, spinach and tomato) at an upscale supermarket not far from my health food store.

Gnocchi is naturally vegan. I served it with a vegan spinach pesto sauce. I got a bit of basil at a farmer’s market today, but not enough to make straight pesto so I made spinach pesto instead, because I did have a lot of fresh spinach.

 
The pesto turned out good. I’ll post the vegan spinach pesto recipe tomorrow seeing as I made so much that I will be eating it for days.

Thai Kitchen has a most beautiful website, and I love their instant rice noodle soup.

They make a number of different vegan products. I am very intrigued with the thought of their coconut milk for use in recipes, so I’ll look for some next time I go to my local health food store. Even though they do sell their wares on their website, it was quite a bit more expensive there — $3.50 for 4 packets of soup and I bought one elsewhere for 55 cents.

My favorite soup is Bangkok Curry, nice and spicy. They also have Garlic & Vegetable, Thai Ginger, Spring Onion, and Lemongrass & Chili.

These single packs of soup are great for a lite lunch or a snack. Completely vegan because they use coconut milk instead of cow’s.

I love these MI-Del Chocolate Snaps. They are a quick, small, taste treat and not anywhere near as loaded with calories as The Best Cookies in the Galaxy.

At 130 calories for 5 cookies and only 45 calories from fat they are a lot less decadent, but do the trick when you are looking for something vegan, sweet and crunchy.

Find these Chocolate Snaps, and they also make Lemon Snaps, Ginger Snaps, Vanilla Snaps, at good health food stores.

Danielle, a regular comment contributor to Almost Vegan, left another tip on my Taco Bell post. She asked if I had a Baja Fresh near me.

She explained how Baja Fresh was incredibly vegan friendly and also had a very clean, nice environment. Judging from their website, I think she is right, unfortunately there’s not one within 100 miles of me.

You know, I am so happy people come to my blog and are nice enough to leave comments, but the downside is I hear about living real close to Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods Market, and now this Baja Fresh place. (sigh) I actually walk my dog every day on a sandy-dirt road surrounded my woods and a couple of small lakes. I “shop” at farms where they just picked the fruits and/or vegetables I am buying… but God I miss big cities. I really do.

Oh boy, I’ve done it this time. I have made some of the best minestrone soup I have ever tasted, and it is because I just used the ingredients I had in the house. I usually put mushrooms in it, because I love mushrooms, but the ones I had-had gone south.

So, I only used some fresh zucchini, yellow squash, onion, garlic and then canned stewed tomatoes, (stewed are perfect for minestrone) garbanzo beans, and great northern beans. I actually liked it better without the mushrooms.

More of a purist’s minestrone.

The secret vegan ingredients are Knorr Vegetarian Vegetable Bouillon and Soymage Vegan Parmesan Alternative.

Read more

A very old family recipe – veganized. Every year, when the blueberries come off the bushes, we take out this pan (9×13) and make a blueberry coffee cake. This is the most simple, but the best thing to eat in the world. It’s also blue food, so no matter how sweet and decadent, it’s good for you.

You’ll need 2 pints of blueberries, a (flour) sifter (very important), 1 cup vegan margarine, Egg Replacer, soy milk, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, for the most amazing vegan taste treat!

The ultimate blueberry coffee cake and it is completely vegan.

Read more

Look at this, Wal-Mart is marketing its own brand of soy milk!

I take this as a huge sign that soy milk is really catching on. That is great. Now all we have to do is work on the soy ice cream, soy cream cheese, and soy sour cream. All of which are so good that if people knew, Wal-Mart would be marketing its own brand of those things too.

Taste test: It’s actually pretty good.

(Again, please don’t hate me for shopping at Wal-Mart. I really have to do it or I’ll starve!)

I go out, I drive past fast food joints, and I am not so strong or so militant that I do not weaken. I actually like to grab something at a drive thru (I’ll admit it) and eat it on the run.

I can do this and stay vegan if I go to Taco Bell, and I really like their Raspberry Iced Tea.

I get a bean burrito, NO CHEESE — “No cheese?” — Yes, that’s right, no cheese, and I want rice, lettuce, onions and tomatoes on it, Okay? — “Sure, that’s okay.” — Thank you very much.

You really don’t need a grill to eat one (or more) of these chick’n patties. Even if you fry them in a pan they taste like you grilled them over an open flame.

Gardenburger Chick’n Patties are an amazing feat of technology. I still marvel at the thought that people can create something out of soy that tastes so close to the real thing. Actually, I have had chicken burgers at fast food restaurants that taste less like chicken than these vegan patties.

Enjoy… and they are good cooked on the grill too.