Guest Post: LA Eatin’ Party Two

Here’s the grand finale of S’s enviable trip to California, where he shares more of his attempt to eat his way through LA and nerds out over SPACE!

***

My friend and I returned to her home after our warm-hearted Cafe Gratitude dinner and rich, sugary BabyCakes dessert. We’d bought tickets to a 10:30 showing of The Gatekeepers, a critically acclaimed documentary about the Israeli secret security service. Alas, I was not to remain awake that long, and I bailed for an early jet-lag induced rest.

The next morning we awoke and headed off to Real Food Daily for brunch. My friend’s late Christmas present for me was a copy of the Real Food Daily cookbook, so I was excited to try their selection. I started off with one of my favorite morning beverages, a hot cup of espresso.

Gimme caffeine!

I sipped my beverage while we mulled over the menu. The waitress recommended The Weekender, a make-your-own brunch meal that looked like way too much food–perfect to fill in for my breakfast and lunch. I got the scrambled tofu, which came with onions, tomatoes, and cashew cheese, a side of tempeh bacon, plus hash browns. If that sounds like a lot, it was!

Scrambled!

The tofu scramble was pretty standard. The cashew cheese on top was unnecessary but delicious, although the promised jalapeno did not deliver much spice. The hash browns were a bit greasy and uncannily square. This was, however, my first experience with tempeh bacon, and it was awesome. How do they get the bacon taste so right? I wanted several more pieces, but I probably couldn’t have eaten them anyway. That’s because I forgot to mention that this meal also included french toast.

Toast, a la francais.

It was light, fluffly, and delicious, if a bit too chewy. But honestly, I could barely choke it down. This weekend turned into a glut-fest!

My friend left me to my own devices for my remaining two days, and I ate both lunch and dinner at separate Native Foods. Did I mention that I love Native Foods? [Ed. note: I can confirm this.] I didn’t snap any pictures or take notes, as I figured there wasn’t much novelty. But later that day I did take a picture of something that was ONCE IN SPACE!

THIS HAS BEEN IN SPACE SEVERAL TIMES.

I am a huge science nerd, and seeing the Endeavour was honestly a pretty awe-inspiring experience. I teared up a bit when I first entered the hangar; it’s amazing to think of the incredible ingenuity, courage, and genius of the men and women who built and flew that craft. Space travel is the most astonishing accomplishment in human history, and seeing the massive shuttle in person was a humbling experience.

But I couldn’t stay long; I had to get to Loma Linda for a work trip. I cruised west for an hour or so and checked into my hotel in Riverside, California, right down the street from the beautiful and historic Riverside Inn. I’d stopped for some snacks along the way, but I was going to need nourishment for the whole week, so I decided to get a pizza and store it in my hotel fridge, eating a few pieces a night. I drove about a half hour to Cheezy Pizza in Colton, a bizarre establishment that was the only vegan offering in the area.

Yep, that’s a head shop next door.

This place was really weird. First of all, it was in the middle of nowhere; the only other buildings around seemed to be warehouses. Secondly, it offered a strange combination of pizza and Mexican food (I wish I’d grabbed some “vegan-style” empanadas). And thirdly, I swear the pizza had fennel on it. It was otherwise not bad, but pretty standard Daiya pizza. I got half “pepperoni” and half mushrooms, and it did the job.

My final vegan stop on the trip was at Loving Hut in Upland, which was about a half hour drive. I’ve never been to a Loving Hut before, and I wasn’t disappointed. There was a muted TV playing the Supreme Master with helpful subtitles that covered nearly the entire screen. I ordered the Spicy General Tso’s and was fairly unimpressed.

New Yorker and Tolkien, no biggie.

I did very much enjoy my dessert, however: an Oreo cheesecake. I also got to watch a very cute baby across the room.

Sorry, no baby pictures.

I had a great time in California and I was so glad to be able to sample such diverse vegan offerings. One unexpected benefit of my going vegan has been that I can plan my trips around the places I want to eat, and that strategy worked swimmingly in LA and the Inland Empire. Thanks for reading!

Seattle: Plum Bistro

Yikes – how are we already halfway through February?! I know it’s the shortest month and all, but… yeesh. I’ve got some catching up to do!

S and I spent the first week of February in California (LA/Loma Linda) and Seattle, respectively, on separate work trips. S took full advantage of LA’s many vegan eateries and will be back to share his meals soon, but for now I’ve got a quick post  about Plum Bistro, a Seattle fixture. Happily for me, my brother lives in Seattle, so I flew in a few days early and hung out with him. On the Sunday night before the work portion of my work trip started, the two of us and my brother’s girlfriend hit up Plum Bistro for dinner. We were just in time for Happy Hour, which does not just feature lower-priced drinks – they’ve got a full Happy Hour menu! We decided to split a bunch of small plates, tapas-style.

First, though, we started with an appetizer – hand-cut curry yam fries with a trio of sauces.

A mountain of fries!

The fries were terrified, and each of those dipping sauces was super flavorful and different. One was heavy on the dill and garlic, one was a bit spicy, and the other… well, I can’t quite remember, but I liked it!

After polishing off the fries, our food came. Clearly we hadn’t read the menu carefully enough, because the beer-battered nori-wrapped tofu came with even more fries – frankly, too many for us to finish! In the background are the purple potato taquitos and Plum’s famous mac & yease.

Even moar dipping sauce!

Holy moly. The mac & yease totally lives up to its famous reputation – it’s incredibly rich and creamy, probably the creamiest, most unique vegan mac & cheese I’ve ever had. Very impressive, and very filling – I was so glad we were splitting all this food! The beer-battered tofu was not terribly exciting, but the taquitos were tasty.

We also ordered baby eggplants stuffed with smoked tofu, basil, and sweet and sour plum sauce.

Eggplants.

I very much enjoyed these, although I found myself wishing they weren’t fried (like most of the rest of our meal). They had a great eggplant-to-stuffing ratio.

Finally, my brother ordered the jerk tofu yam slider.

Slider.

I couldn’t resist a bite of the tofu, and I was well rewarded – it was chewy and well-seasoned with jerk spices. My brother polished most of it off, though!

Whew! If that looks like a heavy, rich meal, well, it was. I was so full afterwards! I rarely eat that heavily, and I found myself wishing we’d curated our choices more closely and chosen a small salad to add some lightness. Live and learn! Overall, Plum Bistro was well-worth the hype. I was also pleased at the variety of my fellow diners – there were elderly folks, entire families, and a few couples. I love seeing such a diverse group of people enjoying vegan food!

Guest Post: Everlasting Life Café Review

Today I’m sitting back and letting someone else do the talking! My dear darling S (whom I most definitely did not just call an overly mean name for running the dryer instead of the washing machine and then wondering aloud why the clothes hadn’t gotten wet…) spent his Christmas holiday in Maryland. He made a few jaunts up to D.C. for some friend-visiting, and one night he emailed me a couple of food photos with the caption, “I can’t wait to take you here!” Three weeks later, he’s still talking about the meal that inspired that email, and now he’s going to share his review of what’s probably his new favorite restaurant. So – here’s S!

***

I chose to go vegan for entirely ethical reasons. That’s why you’ll find me wolfing down an entire slice of Chicago Diner cake while Kelly watches in awe, fork dangling from her fingers.

That’s also why I devoured a huge plate of food, plus half of my friend’s sandwich, on a recent trip to the vegan soul food restaurant Everlasting Life Cafe in Washington, D.C.

The restaurant itself is almost aggressively unassuming–at night, with the blinds drawn, it looks from the outside like it could be abandoned. I walked right by the first time. But inside you’ll find a spacious dining area, bar, and in the back, a beautiful cafeteria-style spread:

Free samples, you say?

On the left you’ll see a hot bar serving an ever-changing array of entrees and sides. Choose from main courses like shepherd’s pie, barbecue tofu, or country fried chicken, and sides such as collard greens, macaroni and cheese, or black-eyed peas. On the right is a cold bar with a mind-bogglingly huge selection of fresh salads like marinated kale, seaweed, and mung bean.

Not pictured is a juice bar hawking nogs, shakes, and smoothies sweetened with agave and molasses, and a sandwich bar with offerings like a fried chicken sandwich and a steak and cheese sub. More on that chicken sandwich later…

When I approached the counter, I had a momentary flash of fear–what if I’d misread the menu? What if this was the wrong place? But the server, perhaps a mind-reader, greeted me with a smile and a reassurance: “Everything here is 100% vegan.” What a statement! As a newbie vegan, precious few are the restaurants I’ve visited where everything is vegan. It’s so nice to be able to relax and choose based on what looks good instead of what looks like it doesn’t contain fish sauce.

It was also great to be offered a barrage of samples in tiny paper cups; a sign declared only three were allowed per guest, but our server seemed to want us to sample the entire menu. After trying the macaroni and cheese, kale salad, and sweet potatoes, I wanted it all. I settled, however, on the lasagna, with collard greens on the side.

Lasagna as big as yo face.

Wow! This meal blew my mind. The lasagna was packed with a great non-dairy ricotta, TVP-esque meaty bits, and plenty of delicious spinach. As you can see, the portion was huge, as was the helping of collard greens, which were deliciously savory with a strong smokiness.

Despite the abundance of food, I didn’t have any trouble scarfing it down, and when my friend offered me the rest of her chicken sandwich, I accepted with very little prodding. Sorry I don’t have a picture, but it was a breaded seitan chunk slathered in vegan mayonnaise and topped with tomatoes and lettuce. In other words, exactly what a fried chicken sandwich should be!

I cannot wait to return to D.C., hopefully with Kelly in tow, and pay another visit to Everlasting Life. It’s not fine dining–you grab your own silverware–and you should steer clear if you’re watching your weight. As Wikipedia notes, soul foods “tend to be very high in starch, fat, sodium, cholesterol, and calories.” But if you’re looking for a hearty, indulgent vegan meal, look no further than Everlasting Life.

Vegan on the Go: Eating Vegan at the Cleveland Airport

Hi, all! I returned to Madison bright (seriously – it was sunny!) and early (got up at 4:30 AM; landed at 9:00 AM!) this morning after a lovely Christmas with my family in Rhode Island. I’ll talk all about that soon, but first – something else.

One of my most popular posts is the one where I talk about vegan options at O’Hare. That post gets hits every week, if not every day. All y’all folks with smartphones like to search for eating options while you’re on the go! So let me help you out with some more info about how to eat vegan in airports. This time, I’m talking about vegan options at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in Ohio.

I had a two hour layover in Cleveland last weekend, so I spent a decent amount of time wandering the terminals and seeing what I could see. And here’s what I saw:

• Paciugo Gelato and Caffe (C terminal). If you’re in the mood for gelato/sorbet, there are clearly labelled vegan options at this location. They’re marked as dairy-free, and according to their website, Paciugo also offers soy-based gelato. I’m not sure if they ever have the soy options available at the small airport stand, but there were at least two vegan sorbet choices when I stopped by. (For the record, I didn’t eat any – I was hungry for real food!)
• Currito: Burritos Without Borders (main food court): I love the concept of this place. They make burritos with an international flair. I had the Bangkok burrito, which features peanut sauce, Asian slaw, cucumbers, rice, and organic tofu. It was spicy and delicious – the perfect lunch. I really like that you can substitute organic tofu for the meat in any burrito. If you don’t feel like choosing from the burrito options they’ve created, you can do a make-your-own burrito and choose exactly what goes in. They also offer smoothies, many of which can be made vegan (or are already vegan). I didn’t get one, but they looked quite tasty!
• Subway (D terminal). Not much to say about this one – this is pretty much a given at any airport!

There are surely more vegan choices at this airport (there’s a salad place, for example), but those the most obvious ones I noticed in my walk around the terminals. I hope this helps some hungry vegan who finds herself with some time to spare in Cleveland one day!

Cornucopia: Another Love Story

Ah, travel recaps. Somehow they always get away from me, and by the time I finish posting them I’ve been back home for months and the finer details are rapidly escaping me. So it goes with the remainder of my Ireland/Scotland recap. When last I left you, S and I had just returned from a day trip touring the stunning Scottish highlands, and we wrapped up our day with another meal at Henderson’s. The very next day, we hopped a flight back to Ireland for the remaining couple days of our overseas adventure.

I’ve already talked a bit about some Dublin eats, but I’ve held off on sharing my absolute favorite restaurant in dear dirty Dublin. In fact, it was my favorite eatery on the entire trip, edging out even Henderson’s. Shocking! But for its variety, atmosphere, and general delightfulness, Cornucopia takes the vegan cake. It also, coincidentally, serves vegan cake.

Chocolate heaven.

With its cheerful red storefront and pleasing, almost tea-room-like interior, Cornucopia is the perfect mix of homey and elegant. Dim (but not dark!) lighting keeps things cozy, and a variety of seating arrangements (benches, chairs, booths, bar stools, tables of assorted sizes) ensure that you’re comfortable while you chow down. As with most other places we ate on our trip, patrons select and pay for their meals at the front counter. I’m pretty sold on this arrangement – it lets you preview your food and see what looks the most scrumptious rather than order off a menu with limited, if any, photos. How could I resist ordering something this appealing?

Moar phyllo!

Unlike Henderson’s Cornucopia also features a full staff of friendly folks who are happy to take from-the-table orders if you want dessert or a post-dinner espresso. This saves you from interrupting your meal to wait in line for a hot tea or a slight of a fruity tart:

Yes please.

And beyond all those perks, the food is just plain good. Cornucopia uses many locally grown and organic ingredients, and although it’s a vegetarian restaurant, each day it features a variety of vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, and raw foods. Everything’s made in-house for ultimate freshness. S and I dined here three times, and each experience was as pleasant as the last. Cornucopia is often pretty crowded, so we made reservations for two of our visits. Even though it wasn’t full when we arrived, we were happy to have reserved spots as we watched the lines get longer and folks filter in.

If you’re wondering why I’ve just half-heartedly inserted photos among the text, it’s because I’m a bad, bad blogger and I can’t remember everything we ate. I need to start taking notes! For example, I can’t with certainty tell you what this meal was, although I know that the basil scone was lovely and that S enjoyed that bowl of a raw, chilled avocado-based soup on two of our dining occasions:

Messy deliciousness.

I think it was a potato-cauliflower casserole or gratin-type dish, but I’m not totally sure. I am, however, sure that it was delicious. We did, after all, eat three of our four Dublin dinners at Cornucopia.

To make up for my shoddy food bloggery, let me share a photo that I think captures much of what you’ll see if you do a tour of Ireland’s historical sites. This was taken at Glendalough, a monastic settlement founded in the 6th (!) century.

Round towers.

Ah, Ireland.

What’re your tips for remembering meals you ate on vacation? Have you ever been to Ireland?

Scotland: Once More, with Scenery

In my last Edinburgh post, I got a little verbose about the Nut Roll. I shared a few photos of yummies from Henderson’s, but that was it – I didn’t show you any more photos of the gorgeousness that is Scotland, and I certainly didn’t mention any of the other places we ate. Let me remedy that by sharing a few choice pictures and a few paragraphs of accompanying explanations.

First up, how about something that every American clamors to see when going abroad?

Oooh.

The first real stop during our coach tour of the highlands was at Stirling Castle, where we paid a rather large amount of money to spend barely an hour walking around inside the castle grounds. But it was a lovely day, we got to see one of Scotland’s largest and most historic castles, and we were on vacation – the most appropriate time to spend more than you usually would, right? Anyway, do you see that bit of yellow-gold peeking over the frontmost turret? That color is called King’s Gold, and much of the castle’s exterior would’ve been painted that color in the castle’s heyday. Much cheerier than grey stone!

After leaving the castle, our gregarious tour guide, Rob, narrated many harrowing tales of Scottish history while navigating the equally harrowing roads in the highlands. He took us on a quick detour “to see his cousin Hamish,” who, as it turns out, is a Highland Cow. Oh, Rob, you so silly. Hamish was pretty silly-looking too.

My, what a drippy mouth you have!

Hamish has gained fame for being the oldest Highland Cow (‘scuse me, Highland Coo) in Scotland – he is, allegedly, nineteen years old and is basically a tourist attraction. The inherent tackiness of exploiting an animal so tourists can ooh and ahh and purchase Hamish-emblazoned sweaters and keychains and Christmas ornaments aside, Hamish does seem to have a pretty sweet life – he has a decent amount of land to traverse, he gets lots of (hopefully healthy) food from tourists who can buy it from little machines, and he has a live-in girlfriend. He even has his own children’s book. Hamish is something of a national treasure, which made Rob’s easy transition from showing off Hamish to talking about the deliciousness of Highland Cow meat rather jarring and disappointing.

We didn’t spend too much time with our shaggy friend, however; we had a lunch reservation to catch. Gulp. Vegans in the house, do you, too, get that sinking sense of dread any time you’re told that someone has “thoughtfully” made a meal reservation at an unknown restaurant? S and I were very wary indeed, imagining that our only option would be a wilted iceberg salad and that we’d have to watch our fellow travellers chow down on Hamish’s less fortunate cousins. But! What luck! Rob had booked us at the Oak Tree Inn, a feted establishment on the shores of Loch Lomond. Among the meat and fish and cheese on the menu lurked a – wait for it – vegan pizza! Yes, it was vegan as offered – cheeseless and veggie-laden, if a bit bland. Hallelujah! S and I felt very American indeed as we munched pizza and chips (that’s French fries to you) while our less dietarily restricted traveling companions tried the more traditionally Scottish Cullen skink soup and “locally caught” (ahem!) haggis. Ah well – we all got to enjoy the same beautiful views after our meals, skink or no.

What can you seeee… on the horiiizon?

Ah, Loch Lomond - its banks are, indeed, bonnie. After a small failure at finding the path to the lake (really; I don’t know how we missed it, it was a stone’s throw from the Inn!) S and I meandered along the bonnie banks for a good 45 minute, taking photos and enjoying the view. Then we hightailed it back to the bus so Rob could ferry us to our next stop – a bona fide Scottish whisky distillery. I don’t have any particularly grand photos from Glengoyne because we were too sloshed on free samples to focus the camera.

Not really; we just didn’t take many photos because we were quite engrossed in the truly interesting and in-depth tour. I was also trying valiantly not to freak out after a fleck of our tour guide’s spittle landed on my face as he explained the intricacies of the single malt process; that distracted me from taking too many photos. Suffice it to say that we left the distillery with a few photos, a taste for single-malt, and a gift of whisky for our host. We also brought back a small ceramic water jug that came free with our purchase – it is emblazoned with the distillery’s logo and is our most treasured souvenir.

Then it was back to the bus for the thrilling conclusion of both our tour and Rob’s narration of the various battles in Scottish history, which included Rob playing a rather melancholic version of the aforementioned Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond that left Rob choked up and S with an obsession to find that very version of the somber song so he could own it for his very own. (Spoiler: He did; it’s a version by The Corries, if you’re similarly masochistic.)

And thus ended our day-long whirlwind tour of the highlands. If you’ve been following along, this was the point when we returned to Edinburgh in the rain and hightailed it to Henderson’s for our second meal there. Full circle, y’all.

Whew – I wrote far more than intended (what else is new?). Apologies, and thanks for slogging through my wordiness. You’re chums, you know that?

How do you feel about using animals as roadside attractions? Have you ever been pleasantly surprised to find a vegan option in a less-than-promising locations?

Edinburgh: Vegan Haggis and Chocolate Galore

As much as I love Ireland, I was a little more excited about the four days S and I planned to spend in Edinburgh. Scotland was a new-to-me country, and visiting new-to-me countries makes this wanderlustin’ gal happy. And when I caught my first view of Edinburgh Castle as we rode the bus into the city from the airport, I felt very happy indeed. Just look at this view:

I just love how the castle dominates Edinburgh’s skyline, in part because the city is so hilly. Edinburgh as a whole just has a much older feel than Dublin, making it feel a little more foreign and, dare I say, exotic. After a single day in the city, it became quite obvious to me that J.K. Rowling’s imagination was clearly fueled by the streets and sights of Edinburgh.

My imagination, however, requires more than just pretty sights – it requires food. (Did ya like that transition? Heh heh.) Luckily Edinburgh did not disappoint in the realm of vegan food! On our first day in the city, we enlisted the help of our city-savvy host, S’s friend, to find the Baked Potato Shop. The shop is truly a hole-in-the-wall just off bustling Cockburn Street (that’s pronounced “co-burn” – stop giggling!), with a single booth inside and a line out the door. On this first visit, we were lucky enough to snag a booth in the steamy interior – apparently, bakin’ up potatoes all day long lets off  a lot of heat!

Although baked potato joints are quite common in Edinburgh, this particular one is notable for its vegan friendliness. Its menu clearly lists which topping are vegetarian and which are vegan – very helpful, as long as you can actually see the menu over the heads of hungry folks waiting in line!

Busy!

Giant, hot baked potatoes are totally worth the wait, however. S and I both ordered mediums on this first visit, only to discover that a medium is really two respectably sized taters crammed into a single basket – so much food! I recommend getting the small – it’s only one potato, but it’s more than enough. On this occasion, we’d also ordered a vegan haggis samosa (!) so we had lots of eats to go around. My potato[es] with haggis and a bit of non-dairy butter were enormous:

No interior organs in this haggis…!

I was very excited to try vegan haggis… not that I’d ever had real haggis. I didn’t know what to expect, but this stuff was delicious. I believe it was a blend of ground nuts and grains with lots and lots of savory spices, and it made the perfect counterpart to the more neutral potato flavor. Yum. My only complaint about my Baked Potato Shop dining experience is that they really should offer sturdier silverware for anyone who’s dining in – that little plastic fork could not hold up to a thick-skinned, fully loaded potato!

With vegan haggis checked off on my bucket list, I was happy to enjoy less traditionally Scottish eats. Serendipitously, our host’s flat was just a couple minutes’ walk from the Chocolate Tree, a coffee shop and chocolate café. Yes, chocolate café. The shop is just bursting with chocolate-y goodness, from freshly made cakes and tarts to truffles, chocolate bars, and gelato. Oh yeah – a fair amount of it is vegan. For example, this chocolate berry tart was calling our name the first time S and stopped in:

Pretty much fudge on a plate.

That tart was every bit as rich and fudgy as it looks. Thank goodness for those berries – I’m not sure even I could handle so much unadulterated chocolate! We enjoyed our tart and espressos outside, thankful for the easily accessible jars of lemon water to help us wash down all that chocolate and coffee.

Perfection.

The next time S and I visited, we didn’t have room in our tummies for cake. S ordered a soy latte and I tried the vegan Mayan hot chocolate. The Chocolate Tree is serious about its hot chocolate – just take a look at my drink:

Hmm…

Oh yes. That is basically melted chocolate – so, so rich. It was delicious, even if I had to enlist S’s help in finishing it. (He was happy to help – his soy latte was disappointingly weak.) If I could change one thing, though, I’d have added more spice to it – I couldn’t really taste whatever spices were in it.

On that trip to the shop, S and I also picked up a few dark chocolate bars to add to my snack stash. The Winter Spice bar, featuring “a cozy blend of organic gingerbread spices and organic dark chocolate,” was particularly droolworthy.

With all that chocolate as fuel, S and I conquered the climb up to Arthur’s Seat with our host as a tour guide, taking us up a few rather less-than-beaten paths. But the view was totally worth scrabbling up rocks and scraping our palms.

Those colors!

The way back down had its fair share of fantastic views, too.

Abbey that was.

So… Scotland? Yeah, I liked it. I liked it very much. And the good eats didn’t end with chocolate and haggis – I haven’t even talked about our favorite find yet!

Have you tried vegan haggis? Or… real haggis?!

Dublin: Blazing Salads and a Lone Gnome

For our two two-day, two-night stints in Dublin (they were the bread around a four-day Edinburgh sandwich), S and I found places to stay via AirBnB. During our first stay in Dublin, we rented a room with a truly lovely older Irish couple. They were the epitome of hospitality, despite Hans’ slight mockery of “céad mile fáilte and all that bullshit.” Every morning we broke our fast at their table; they served up bread, jam, berries, and a host of un-vegan things as well, and they doled out site-seeing advice galore. With their house as a conveniently located home base, we explored the city in comfort.

Between their recommendations and my memories from studying in Dublin five years ago, we were pretty set with ideas of things to do. When it came to eating, we needed a little help. I downloaded the HappyCow app on my iPad and used it before we set out for the day to find vegan eateries that were nearby, and this approach worked wonderfully.

After arriving in Dublin and resting up, we needed sustenance. HappyCow told me that a vegetarian food bar (delightfully called Blazing Salads!) was but a ten or fifteen minute walk away, so we set out. We found Blazing Salads in the middle of a bustling shopping area, and we knew we’d struck gold when we entered the small shop and saw their signage:

Healthy food and whole, seasonal ingredients! Yes please!

The center of the shop features a salad bar with various varieties of salads and hot bar type items. There’s also a refrigerated section with juices and pre-made sandwiches, a pantry-like area with staples and freshly baked breads, and a counter at the front with other freshly made savory items. I chose from that section, ordering a vegetable and samosa spring roll to share and a brown rice ball stuffed with aduki bean and vegetables for myself. S chose a cold tofu, veggie, and sprout sandwich. While we waited for my selections to be heated, we nabbed a spot at the window bar (there’s no indoor seating) and I sipped on a bottled juice.

So much orange!

Strictly speaking, we didn’t need that to-go bag since we ended up eating in the shop. But the cashier gave it to us, and it was so cute that I just had to keep it! The colors complemented my juice nicely, too.

Soon, our hot foods were heated and ready for the munching.

Foods!

That spring roll was filled to bursting with veggies, and my brown rice ball was a scrumptious, savory blend of beans and veggies. We had a couple of soy-based dips, and although I liked how they kept my rice from getting dry, their added salt made both the roll and the ball a bit too salty – umami overload! Even though I only ate the rice ball and half the roll, I was quite full when I finished. I wish I’d snagged a bite of S’s pita sandwich, though – it looked so yummy!

Sprout overload!

Actually, who am I kidding – if I’d had any room in my belly, I would’ve gone for one of Blazing Salads’ desserts – their front case had lots of creative treats, many of them raw. Alas, I did not have room in my belly.

During that first two-day stint in Dublin, we also ate at Diwali, an Indian and Nepalese establishment not far from Blazing Salads. With many vegetarian and vegan options on the menu, S and I had a hard time choosing what we wanted. I opted for the veggie Karahi curry, while S chose a veggie vindaloo that he described as “the hottest I’ve ever had, by far.” Neither of us could finish our meals, so they returned with us to Hans’ and Deirdre’s house. Alas, they were also forgotten there when we left Dublin.

Before we left, though, we grabbed snacks at a health food shop called Nourish. Actually, to be honest, I’m not 100% sure that was the place we stopped, but I think it was. We stocked up on flapjacks (oh how I love European flapjacks!), a delicious peppermint-filled chocolate bar that filled the spot that Junior Mints used to occupy in my heart, and various other vegan bars. I kept them stashed in my purse for times of hunger… as one does.

The other place we dined was Cornucopia, but I’m saving my review till later. As you’ll hear, this joint quickly became our most-frequented eatery in Dublin.

Other than eating, we also toured Trinity College, saw the Book of Kells, checked out the (overpriced) Guinness Storehouse (the Foreign Extra is vegan, so make sure to ask for that as your free pint!), and took a themed walking tour. We also spent a lot of time just wandering around and familiarizing ourselves with the city, something I always enjoy doing (as long as I have a map!). And we hung out at St. Patrick’s Cathedral with this guy:

Hmm…

Heh heh. Up next in my travel tales: Edinburgh!

Airplane Food: Really Not Worth the Hateration (thanks, Aer Lingus!)

I am back! S and I returned from our Ireland and Scotland adventure on Sunday. It was, in a word, glorious. I have so much to share because, as it turns out, Dublin and Edinburgh are just bursting with truly phenomenal vegan eateries. I’ll be spacing out my inevitably effusive posts over the next couple weeks, but in the meantime let me start by answering the question that’s on everyone’s lips: How was the airplane food?!

Well, dear readers, it was just fine. We flew Aer Lingus, and a couple days before our flight I called and confirmed that we wanted vegan meals for both legs of our flight. Even after the customer service agent assured me that it was all set, I was a bit nervous. Last time I flew overseas, the meal on the way back from Italy wasn’t vegan – there was some confusion because that flight was operated by KLM, not Delta. But Aer Lingus came through on both legs of our flight, so S and I didn’t have to break into the sizable stash of snacks I’d brought with me. And the great thing about ordering a special meal is that you get it before everyone else on the flight because the flight attendants heat the special meals up separately. Win!

Anyway, here’s what we ate for dinner on our flight to Ireland:

Mmm, scrumptious!

The main dish was a tomato-y chickpea curry with broccoli and carrot. Yes, singular carrot – I spied but one baby carrot in my dish. Despite the slightly mushy veggies and rice, this really wasn’t terrible, and it was more creative than other vegan airplane dishes I’ve experienced. The side salad was a cucumber and tomato deal with no noticeable dressing – fine by me. The meal came with a roll, some non-vegan margarine (whey fail!), and a small fruit salad. Not bad.

After we traversed the Atlantic and jumped ahead in time, we received breakfast. While the rest of the passengers got some sort of croissant sandwich, we received a bagel with blackberry jam and a little tub of orange juice.

Brekkie!

Again, not terribly exciting, but totally acceptable.

I didn’t photograph our food on the flight back, but you’re not missing much. Our lunch was an uninspiring pasta and veggie dish; it was limp and rather flavorless. It came with a typical side salad (no dressing), a roll, actually-vegan margarine, and more fruit salad. Sadly, we did not receive a special vegan pre-landing snack. The crew came around and offered another breakfast bread-y snack (croissant? roll? bagel? I don’t even remember), but it contained dairy, so we passed. Ah well. Can’t win ‘em all.

In summary, Aer Lingus definitely passed the airplane food test. It also passed my “no delay” test – I have reallllly bad luck when I fly; nearly every flight I take gets delayed, gets cancelled, or goes horribly awry on one leg (or both!). But none of our Aer Lingus flights had any issues; other than the Chicago-Dublin round trip, we embedded a Dublin-Edinburgh trip that went equally smoothly. Hooray for that.

Don’t worry – this is the least exciting of my travel recap posts. I have much more exciting stuff to talk about later!

What have your vegan airplane food experiences been like? 

What’s in the Box? Summer 2012 CSA Week Five

It’s week five of my summer CSA! Want to see my haul?

Gasp!

What devilry is this?! Don’t worry, our farm hasn’t gone under or anything. S and I decided to donate our share to a local food pantry this week. I’d be lying if I said we did it out of pure altruism, though – it was a very pragmatic decision. We are going to be out of town for about ten days starting Friday, and our food just wouldn’t last that long. Where will we be? We are going to Ireland and Scotland! Eee!

…I know, I know, we just took a trip to RI. And I haven’t even mentioned that I spent last weekend camping with college friends. But the Ireland/Scotland trip was in the works well before either of those trips, and summer is for travelin’, right? Yeah. I’m super excited to return to Dublin, where I spent most of a summer studying during college. And I’ve never been to Scotland, so I can’t wait to explore Edinburgh and check out some Fringe events. And – of course! – we are both very excited to discover what vegan eats Dublin and Edinburgh have to offer. I was vegetarian when I was in Ireland, but I’ve never experienced it as a vegan.

So, dear readers, if you’ve been to either place as a vegan, let me know where I should eat! And do share fun things to do in Dublin and Edinburgh. I’ve done many touristy things in Dublin, but I’m open to your suggestions, too! And, tell me – do you have any fun vacations planned this summer?