Southern Fried Poboy at Seed in New Orleans LA

Here's the Southern Fried Poboy at Seed in New Orleans. This is probably my favorite Poboy. It's fried tofu nuggets battered in chickpea flour, lettuce, tomato, and vegan mayonnaise on poboy bread. Those tofu nuggets are fantastic! It's always better with Louisianan hot sauce though.

Click here to see the Seed website

Cracker Jack

Artichoke Cakes at Seed in New Orleans LA

Here's the Artichoke Cakes at Seed in New Orleans. Theses are made with artichoke, heart of palm, roasted corn, red pepper, green onions, garlic, gluten free panko, and buffalo drizzle. These are very delicate and soft with chunks on the inside, and the outside coating is nice slightly crunchy. I believe this may be a vegan version of crab cakes. I've never had real crab cakes, so I can't compare. All I can say is I ate every bit of this excellent plant-based food, and I would order this again!

End of the Line Cafe in Pensacola FL

End of the Line Cafe has a 100% vegan menu! Check out the fantastic foods I found.

Tempeh Caprese Panini
This amazing stack of plant food is made with rosemary roasted tempeh, roasted garlic plant-based mozzarella, Roma tomato, fresh basil & garlic oil on sourdough bread. Wow! This was really good! The toasted bread was perfect. The tempeh was delicious. The basil and rosemary flavor was all over the place. Excellent!

Quesadilla
The quesadilla has vegan pepper jack & cheddar "cheese", pico de gallo, black olives, jalapeños, and vegan sour cream on a bed of mixed greens. All of my favorites on one plate!

Dolma & Hummus Platter

This plate was vegan heaven! This has stuffed grape leaves & hummus, warm pita, cucumber & Roma relish, vegan feta "cheese", drizzled with spicy Tahini sauce. Absolutely fantastic!

End of the Line is a small vegan cafe across the street from the rail road tracks on the east side of downtown Pensacola. It's in an older building that does show it's age with worn textures, but they keep it clean. The dining area is functional with hints of rustic and industrial styling. They let people seat themselves and have walk-up service to keep it casual. There's outdoor seating in the back. This place is great, but it was very loud in there during lunchtime. I would recommend End of the Line Cafe to anyone who wants to eat delicious food.

Click here to see the End of the Line Cafe website

Chizuko in Pensacola FL

I had an unusual experience at a vegan dive bar called Chizuko in Pensacola. Here's how it went.

I found a flat black painted building with no windows. It looked like a goth nightclub. The sign said "Chizuko".  I knew this was the place. I found a door and went inside. The darkness and cool air was like going into a cave. It was amazingly dark. 1990's Hip Hop music was playing. All I could see was some colored light and dark silhouettes. I followed the colored light to find the bar. When my eyes adjusted enough to see, I found myself  surrounded by a freakish but pleasantly interesting environment. As an artist, I immediately felt comfortable within the creative space. The lady at the bar quickly welcomed me with a smile.

New Belgium Dayblazer
I started the visit with a New Belgium Dayblazer. It was refreshing with a wheaty nutty taste. It was so good I had another one later.

I had to use light from a cell phone to see the menu until my eyes adjusted. The moment I walked in it was like visiting friends. The lady at the bar was very friendly. She said she named the place after her Japanese grandmother. The vegan snack food menu has a slight Asian theme. The place is full of strange objects like voodoo skulls, a Victorian sofa, bizarre paintings of crab-devil ladies, and a coffin as a coffee table. I went into one of the non-gender specific restrooms to wash my hands and was surprised to see this:

Wow! This place is full of visual surprises. These are my kind of people! Now back to the vegan food.



Kimchi Tater Salad
This was a creamy, tangy, chunky potato salad with crisp chunks hidden inside and topped with black sesame seeds. It was cool and refreshing. Very good!

Banh Mi Sliders
These tasted like they could be Gardein Beefless Sliders with some extra tasty veggie ingredients added to them. These tiny vegan burgers go well with beer.

Curried Boiled Peanuts
These boiled peanuts were very good! They're served in a pool of coconut milk with yellow curry, chili pepper, ginger, cilantro, and lemongrass. These may be the best boiled peanuts I've ever had. Messy but excellent! They come with hand wipes and napkins.

This visit was unforgettable. The building is uninviting from the outside, but anyone who goes inside will find a secret treasure of good vegan snacks and adult beverages served by friendly people in a visually exciting space. Chizuko has frequent comedy and music events. There's a patio/courtyard that is lit in blue light for anyone who smokes or wants to bring a canine partner. This place is amazing! If you're in Pensacola, you need to check this out!

Eggplant Poboy at Seed in New Orleans LA

I ordered an Eggplant Poboy sandwich at Seed in the beautiful city of New Orleans. This is pan-fried eggplant in a light cornmeal batter, roasted red peppers, onions, lettuce, and garlic aioli on poboy bread with a side of kale. This did have a bit too much bread, and it was a tiny bit dry. But those are very minor issues. I put some Louisiana hot sauce on it and it was great. I would definitely order this again!

I also got the Mac N Cheese. It was mild and creamy with perfectly cooked shell pasta. It's vegan! Everything at Seed is 100% vegan!

Click here to see the Seed website

Home-made Baked Squash with Onions

This squash came straight from my organic, non-GMO garden. I baked it with olive oil and onions, then sprinkled it with salt and pepper. Amazing!

Thai Harvest Curry at P.F. Chang's

This is a new vegan option at P.F. Chang's. It's similar to the Coconut Curry Vegetables which is apparently no longer available. This is described as "red curry, butternut squash, five-spice tofu, rustic vegetables, Asian mushrooms, topped with fresno peppers". This was very good!

Click here to see P.F.Chang's website

A Vegan Snack at Whataburger

The fries at Whataburger are vegan! They also have a few good vegan sauces. I got picante, salsa verde, and spicy ketchup. The sweet tea was good too.

Van's Waffles with Maple Syrup

Van's Gluten-free Totally Original waffles are vegan! I ate mine with 100% Grade A maple syrup.

More Vegan Hors d'oeuvres

I used Simple Mills Jalapeno Sprouted Seed Crackers, Kite Hill Cream Cheese Style Spread (Chive flavored), red pepper stuffed green olives, and small cherry peppers to make these delicious snacks. They didn't make it to the party. I ate them all myself.

Home-made Spicy Avocado Wrap

This wrap is made with a Toufayan wheat wrap, avocado, living alfalfa sprouts, Daiya Cheddar slices, and hydroponic butter lettuce. To make it spicy I topped it with some Vegenaise mixed with Huy Fong Sriracha Sauce. This wrap was very flavorful and offered a variety of textures.

Another visit to Qdoba in Charlotte NC

I went to Qdoba near UNC-Charlotte and got this delicious plant-based meal!

Rhythm Superfoods Garlic & Onion Kale Chips

Here's another great product from Rhythm Superfoods. These kale chips are excellent! And this is a non-GMO product!

Click here to see the Rhythm Superfoods website

Lentil Stew at The Wild Cow Vegetarian Restaurant in Nashville TN

This perfectly spiced lentil stew is a hearty comfort food. If you like this you will really like the Lentil Bowl which comes with organic brown rice. This is vegan!

Click here for The Wild Cow Vegetarian Restaurant website

Garlic Toast

I used vegan ciabatta bread from Whole Foods, Earth Balance butter alternative, minced garlic, and oregano to make this delicious snack.

Cracker Soup

This is a good meal for vegans living in a poverty situation. This is cracker soup. It's really not bad for what it is. Take some cheap crackers (be sure they're vegan), add some water (preferably hot), and season it with whatever you have. I added salt and pepper to mine. I took this photo in the candle light because this is what poverty often looks like. Some vegans are fortunate enough to go to fancy vegan restaurants and cook nice meals in a clean kitchen. Some others must eat like this. I've done both.

Home-made Garden Green Beans with Chunky Mashed Potatoes

I grew my own green beans! These are fresh from the garden. I grew these organic style from non-GMO seeds. I boiled them with a slice of onion. To make this a meal I boiled some potatoes and mashed them. The only seasoning I used for the beans or the potatoes is olive oil, salt, and cracked pepper. This is a really good minimalist meal!

Ben & Jerry's Non-Dairy Cherry Garcia

I was very impressed by this product! This was excellent! The generous amount of cherries and chocolate chunks is not evident in this photo. This was so good it made me want to put on a good copy of Shakedown Street and dance around the room with it like a Deadhead.

Click here to see the Ben & Jerry's website

Don't Mess With Texas at Happy Tummy in Huntsville AL

I went back to Lowe Mill in Huntsville AL and stopped by Happy Tummy for a snack. This time I got the Don't Mess With Texas with no cheese. This was pretty good.

Don't Mess With Texas at Happy Tummy in Huntsville AL

Click here to see the Happy Tummy website

Vegan Chocolate Truffles at Pizzelle Confections in Huntsville AL

Pizzelles Confections in Huntsville AL has vegan chocolate truffles! And look at these little jewels. I almost felt bad about eating something so beautiful. These two are some of the simple ones at Pizzelles. Check out the website to see the really fancy ones.

The one on the right is the Green Dragon. It's dark chocolate flavored with cardamom and coffee. The one on the left is a Raspberry Beret. It's dark chocolate with raspberry and orange zest.

Click here to see the Pizzelles Confections website

Veggie Tacos at Chipotle Mexican Grill

Here you see Veggie Tacos at Chipotle. I asked for brown rice, extra pintos, a little bit of fajita veggies, a small amount of medium salsa, and lettuce. I wanted guacamole, but when I got to the guacamole I saw nasty pieces of cheese spilled over into it. It was good like this.

Click here for the Chipotle website

Tofurkey Chick'n Sandwich

I used Tofurkey Slow Roasted Chick'n chunks, original Vegenaise, green leaf lettuce, and Dave's Killer Bread to make this awesome sandwich.

Idli Sambar

I went to a very small Indian restaurant, and this is one of the items they said was vegan. Idli is a steamed rice cake. Sambar is a spicy soup. This was excellent. It's difficult to describe the flavor of sambar because nothing I've eaten tastes anything like it. This was one of the spiciest foods I've ever eaten, but it didn't really burn my mouth like peppers. It did light up my whole mouth with amazing flavor. The idli was almost tasteless but added an interesting texture. I looked up some recipes for sambar and idli just to see if they are typically vegan. Most recipes I found are vegan. And it looks like the sambar could be very cheap and easy to make at home.

Subway Chopped Veggie Salad Combo

I got a raw vegan salad at Subway. I didn't know they chop it all up now. That must be something new.  I don't mind it being chopped. I'm just glad I was the first to order a salad, because the salad chopper and bowl they use could have become contaminated with ham, cheese, and other nasty non-vegan stuff if another person had ordered before me. I saw the lady getting the clean bowl and chopper, so this meal was safe.

Update: I was told they no longer chop the salad because the salads were chopped in a plastic bowl with a metal cutter, and people were finding pieces of the plastic bowl in their food.

Kale and Pinto Bean Pupusas

These pupusas were pretty good. They tasted like tamales. The inside was soft, moist, and spicy. The outside was flaky, dry, and mild. I'll buy these again. They make a nice snack.