Earth Fare Hot Bar Lunch Plate

Earth Fare occasionally has enough vegan foods on the hot bar to make it worth buying. This time they had barbecue tofu, garlic roasted Brussels sprouts, and mixed veggies. They also had some kind of apple cinnamon dessert. It was all clearly marked "vegan".

One thing I like about Earth Fare is that they have complimentary tea, coffee, and water.

A Vegan Meal at Rock N Roll Sushi

The Veggie Roll at Rock N Roll Sushi is said to be vegan, so I sat at the bar, asked some questions, and gave it a try. It was really good. The rolls include seaweed, rice, spring mix, avocado, and cucumber. It comes with wasabi and ginger. Soy sauce is also available. The presentation was simple but impressive.

Rock N Roll Sushi has locations throughout the mid-south. They have a rock music and sushi theme. The menu covers are old classic rock album covers. Rock posters and vinyl records decorate the walls. New and classic rock is played with music videos shown in multiple locations in the restaurant. Rock N Roll Sushi has plenty of food for the omnivores and a few good options for herbivores. Check out the link for more information.


Click here to see the Rock N Roll Sushi menu

Ben & Jerry's Non-Dairy PB & Cookies

This is another excellent Ben & Jerry's product. I love this stuff. It's just like real ice cream but it's vegan! There's no blood and pus in this ice cream! This is made with plants!

Click here to see the Ben & Jerry's website

Starlite Cuisine Cream Sauce Enchiladas

This was excellent! Another winner from Starlite Cuisine! I know it looks like cheese, but this is all vegan!

Potato Leek Soup at I Love Juice Bar

Almost everything at I Love Juice Bar is vegan. Here's the awesome Potato Leek Soup. This is smooth with a rich flavor. It's really good!

Click here to see the I Love Juice Bar website

Vegan Moroccan Plate at Whole Foods

Whole Foods was featuring Moroccan inspired foods. Some of them were vegan. Check this out.

This plate had some really nicely spiced foods. It included :

Green Chili Black Beans
Curry Rice
Sas Hanout Potatoes
Caraway Cabage
Grilled Asparagus

Taco Bell Bean Burrito With No Cheese

Taco Bell has several vegan options. I keep it very simple to avoid risk of contamination. This is the Bean Burrito minus cheese. I could have ordered this as a Fresco Bean Burrito to include pico de gallo instead of cheese, but every time I do that I find little bits of cheese in the pico de gallo. Taco Bell has given me some nasty stuff, so I eat there cautiously. I always grab a plastic spork and search all through the food. I find meat or cheese in my vegan food about 5% of the time. This meal was great!

Taco Bell can be a good place to eat healthy foods while maintaining a tight food budget. Just go for the simple foods like the bean burrito with no cheese, the tostada minus cheese and chipotle sauce, and the taco with beans instead of meat minus cheese.

www.tacobell.com

Beyond Meat Southwest Style Beyond Chicken Strips

This is my first time trying Beyond Meat Southwest Style Beyond Chicken Strips. Being an herbivore for so long, I had to think hard about how I would use this product. I decided to make a simple wrap. I cooked the Beyond Meat in a skillet and wrapped it in a flour tortilla with green leaf lettuce and Daiya Homestyle Ranch dressing (which is also vegan).

My first impression is that the cooking process really made my environment smell like home. It has that real chicken smell that always lingered in places I felt most comfortable as a child. Once I wrapped it up and started to eat, my mouth had flashbacks of a time when it experienced real chicken meat. It was almost too real. I gave up chicken long ago with no desire to go back, so this was weird for me. The flavor and texture brought back the sensory memories of chicken, so I assume it does taste like real chicken. However, I remember real chicken being very greasy and sticky, and this product was not at all greasy or sticky. It had a nice clean mouthfeel and was almost too dry. The dressing made it just right. Some vegan foods are bland and taste like plant protein. This is not one of those products. Beyond Meat tastes like real food. It was actually very good.

My conclusion is that Beyond Meat has a winner here. I'm not really sure how else I would use it, but I liked it in my wrap. I suppose it would be good on a salad. This product is very good considering it's a meat substitute. Omnivores will surely like this product and may not even notice a difference. This is absolutely worth at try if you like or once liked chicken.

Home-made Vegan Deep Dish Pizza

This was easy to make and it came out pretty well. It had a really nice Italian flavor. I just used wheat flour, water, and salt to make a simple crust. I put that in an oiled pan. Then I added a jar of pizza sauce, black olives, diced onions, and Field Roast Italian vegan sausages. I topped it with Daiya vegan mozzarella "cheese", oregano, and basil. I added oil to the top crust. I baked it then broiled it to make it slightly crispy.

Icehouse

Yes, Icehouse is vegan! When I'm at the gas station and want a refreshing light drink to take back to the campsite, Icehouse is a good option. The price is usually good too!

Harvest Snaps Green Pea Snack Crisps, Black Pepper

Here's another great vegan snack, and it's non-GMO!

Dan Dan Noodles at Mei Wei Asian Bistro in Huntsville AL

Dan Dan Noodle bowl at Mei Wei is usually egg noodles in garlic soy sauce topped with mushrooms, peppers, scallion, onions, cucumber and bean sprouts. According to the Mei Wei vegan menu, this can be made vegan by substituting the egg noodles for rice noodles and leaving out the chicken seasoning. This was surprisingly good!

Dan Dan Noodles at Mei Wei Asian Bistro in Huntsville AL

UPDATE: I went to the other Mei Wei in Huntsville, my favorite one near downtown, and I ordered this exactly the same way from the vegan menu except I added tofu. The vegan menu didn't say to substitute the egg noodles, and the regular menu description said "egg noodles", so I asked about it. I was told they will substitute the egg noodles for rice noodles and omit the chicken seasoning to make it vegan. After my questions, she said they should probably get a new vegan menu. I sat down to wait for the vegan Dan Dan Noodles and the lady who took my order came out to said THEY COULD NOT MAKE THIS DISH VEGAN. So I changed my order to the vegan Singapore Noodles and sat there wondering what they have been feeding me. The replacement dish was good, but I found little greasy crusty things in my food. Was it chicken? Maybe it was egg. I have no idea! They probably used a dirty wok.

What are they feeding the vegans at Mei Wei? Is the food vegan or not? I now have no idea. I really want to love Mei Wei. I just can't trust them. The vegan menu has an egg noodle dish on it. They have oyster sauce in the food listed on the vegan menu but say they leave it out. Mei Wei could be such an awesome place for vegans, but they need a vegan audit. My conclusion is that Mei Wei is a great place to eat delicious Asian food, but vegans should not trust that the vegan food is vegan.

Click here to see the Mei Wei website

Roasted Veggie Masala Bowl at The Wild Cow Vegetarian Restaurant in Nashville TN

This is a daily special. It's not found on the menu. The Roasted Veggie Masala Bowl is charred local veggies, yellow curry sauce, and a green chutney over organic brown rice.
 

The Roasted Veggie Masala Bowl had familiar Indian flavors but without all the oil that I've experienced at Indian restaurants. This was a cleaner, fresher Masala bowl. The bold spices were held back just enough to let the veggies shine equally with flavor. Those veggie chucks are bit-size chunks of onion, bell pepper, okra, and eggplant.

I also got a small side of the vegetable medley. It was cooked until soft. The flavors melted over my tongue. It was as comforting as a big hug from Mother Earth if that could even be possible.

As always, this Wild Cow meal was excellent! During this visit it was very crowded and the post-punk music was a bit too loud. The restaurant has many concrete surfaces, and sound really echos in there. The food and great service make it worth it. I always enjoy the food, and I feel like I'm with friends. Everyone should visit The Wild Cow in Nashville TN.

Click here for The Wild Cow Vegetarian Restaurant website

Vegan Swamp Snack

I stopped my bike at a peaceful swampy area for moment of mindful awareness and a snack. IBC Root Beer and Zapp's Dill Gator-Tators are both very flavorful vegan products.

A Vegan Lunch at Legends Steak House in Shelbyville TN

I was looking around for some good vegan food in Shelbyville TN. Guess what. It's a food desert! There's almost nothing to eat for a vegan. I went into Legends Steakhouse hoping to find a good baked potato. They did have potatoes! Here's how it went.
 
I knew they probably don't get many vegan weirdos coming into their small town steakhouse so I made it very clear what I wanted. Using the V word in Shelbyville could lead to confusion or misunderstanding. I ordered "a baked potato with absolutely nothing on it...no butter or anything, just a plain baked potato, and steamed broccoli with nothing on it....just plain broccoli with no butter, and a sweet potato, also plain with absolutely nothing on it" and a sweet tea with lemon.

I couldn't tell if the cooking process was 100% vegan. I did see some brown residue on the bottom of the potato. It could have been caramelized oil or meat juice. I avoided that part just in case. The food was great! Both potatoes and the broccoli tasted fresh and were perfectly cooked. The tea was very good. With a few shakes of salt and pepper, this was an excellent meal.

Legends has several locations in Middle Tennessee. This Shelbyville TN location is very nice. The interior has brick, iron, and wood details that gives it a slightly formal but cozy environment. It was nice and quiet at the time of my visit. The dining area and restroom were clean. The service was very slow. Every part of my visit was slow, but I wasn't in a rush. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone who wants a good meal and has time to take it slowly. Meat eaters and vegans can find something to eat at Legends!

Another Lunch at Mason Dixon Bakery in Huntsville AL

I stopped by Mason Dixon Bakery for another nice lunch. I started my meal with the Thai Cauliflower Bisque.

Cauliflower Bisque at Mason Dixon Bakery in Huntsville AL

This is very creamy, thick, and flavorful with interesting spices. I really liked this, but I should have chosen the cup instead of the bowl. With flavor this rich, I was satisfied about halfway through it. I would definitely order this again, just not so much of it.

I then had some Sweet Potato Chips. These were crispy and light, but heavier, like kettle chips. These were great. Not too salty, but lots of flavor!

Sweet Potato Chips at Mason Dixon Bakery in Huntsville AL

And how could I not get a vegan cup cake for later? I chose the perfectly named Chocolate Heaven. Oh. This was so good!

Chocolate Heaven cupcake at Mason Dixon Bakery in Huntsville AL

This was a good lunch. I will return!

Click here to see the Mason Dixon Bakery website

Daiya Supreme Pizza

Yes. It's vegan!

It was so good I had another one later!

Amy's Veggie Loaf Meal, Light in Sodium

Here's a vegan version of the classic TV dinner. It's like going back to the 1970s, except the meal doesn't have a thick aluminum foil wrapper.

I buy this every once in a while. I like the regular meal better than this low sodium version, but this was still good. The flavors and textures were mild and clean. The centerpiece of the meal is the loaf . It's not really an imitation meat loaf. It's more like a soft veggie burger loaf with chunks of peas and carrots inside. The gravy provided a nice mushroom flavor and moisture to make this meal more like a home-cooked meal.

Click here to see the Amy's Kitchen website

The mild flavors and soft textures are great for younger and older people and perhaps those healing from surgery or dealing with health issues. This is not my favorite Amy's meal, but sometimes I do get a craving for it. It's good vegan food. Amy's has another winner here!

Pacific Cashew Carrot Ginger Soup

This soup is really good! I'm not a big soup fan, but this is something I must share.

Pacific Cashew Carrot Ginger Soup has a creamy, smooth texture and a rich, spicy flavor with just enough sweetness from the carrot. It doesn't have the sharp ginger tingle that would be expected. It's a mild tingle that young and old can enjoy. It awakens the tongue without being offensive. This is a thick broth, but it's thin enough to drink from a cup. The flavor is just amazing! And it's vegan!

Gardein Home Style Beefless Tips

Today I tried Gardein Home Style Beefless Tips for the first time. I've been noticing them in the supermarkets but never thought of getting them because I left beef behind many years ago with no desire to go back to it. Beef was my last meat, and the last time I ate beef I nearly threw up on myself in public. I was a little bit nervous about this. But I thought I'd just see if this Gardein product is good. I have family who will eat it if I don't like it.

I decided to use it just like I would use beef. I stir fried it with onions and green peppers and tossed it over some rice.

To made this dish I used the Gardein Homestyle Beefless Tips, onions, bell pepper, olive oil, soy sauce, non-GMO corn starch, water, and black pepper. I cooked the onions and peppers a few minutes first, then added the Beefless Tips and cooked as directed.

I must admit this was really good. It looks and cooks just like beef. It has a nice beefy flavor, but I wouldn't say it tastes like beef. It has a taste of its own that has the essence of beef. Beefless Tips have a smoother, softer texture and cleaner mouthfeel that is equally satisfying as dead cow muscles. This product will not fool omnivores, but it's good for opening up meal options for herbivores. While this isn't really my kind of thing, this is another great plant-based product from Gardein. I plan to use the remaining portion for a vegan beef and broccoli meal. I can imagine this would also make good fajitas. 

Click here to see the Gardein website