Engine 2 Poblano Black Bean Plant Burger

I've just experienced the consumption of an Engine 2 Poblano Black Bean Plant Burger. I am in a state of near-complete satisfaction. My body aches from a long hard day of work, but this meal made the pain fade from my consciousness for a moment. Look at this beautiful stack of veggies!

This was my first time trying the Engine 2 Poblano Black Bean Plant Burger. It's among the best veggie burgers I've eaten. I love the chunky, nutty texture with the crunchy outer edge. The taste is mild but beany with hints of poblano pepper. The almost-dry patty went well with my juicy condiments.

I enjoyed mine with a Rudi's Organic 100% Whole Wheat Hamburger Bun, green leaf lettuce, organic tomato slices, yellow mustard, ketchup, and black pepper. This was a perfect meal!

Vegan Poutine With Mushroom Gravy

This home-made vegan poutine was made poverty style. It used old potatoes, leftover vegan mushroom gravy, and leftover vegan mozzarella. This was my first attempt to create a poutine basket. I'm satisfied with the results. I'll be making this again.

A Vegan Southern Plate With Great Northern Beans

These Great Northern beans crossed the Mason-Dixon line. Look what happened to them.

Great Northern Beans
These tasty beans got seasoned with chili powder, dried chili pepper flakes, and diced onion.


Fried Potato Wedges
I quartered a potato, seasoned it with olive oil, Adobo, and paprika, then cooked it in the air fryer.


Fried Okra
I fried some okra in olive oil. It was first coated with organic corn meal and wheat flour.


Home-made Cornbread
I baked this in a skillet. It's made with organic corn meal, wheat flour, salt, onion, Adobo, black pepper, vegan egg replacement, baking soda, olive oil, a pinch of sugar, and water.

Chick-fil-a Side Salad Without Cheese

Chick-fil-a does have a good raw plant-based food option. Here's a vegan salad with sweet tea at Chick-fil-a.

I ordered "a side salad with no cheese and no dressing". These usually come with cheese, and they are usually pre-made with cheese on them. But Chick-fil-a employees can have one ready almost as fast as they can get you a refill of tea.

One thing that concerns me is that I once received my salad with 2 stickers on it. One for my order and under that was another for a drive through order for grilled chicken salad minus cheese. It makes me wonder if that salad had chicken on it and they just picked it off. Vegans, be careful. ask them to make sure its a freshly made salad.

I did look to see if they just picked the cheese off. There was no evidence of cheese in this salad. I feel confident it was made fresh without cheese as requested, at least this time.

For the dressing I used the Polynesian dipping sauce. On a salad it tastes much like French dressing but slightly spicier. This salad came with a pack of crunchy sprinkles, and those are vegan too! This was a really good meal.

Click here for the Chick-fil-a website

Impossible Burrito Combo at Qdoba in Charlotte NC

I went back to Qdoba in Charlotte for this good meal. I got cilantro lime rice, black beans, Impossible Burger, lettuce, guacamole, red onions, and cilantro. I made it a combo with chips, salsa, and a drink. This was my first time trying an Impossible Burger product.

The burrito was very good. The serving size was generous as usual. The veggies were fresh. Even the tortilla had a noticeably good flavor. The Impossible Burger tasted very meaty, but I could tell it was made with plants. That's good for me, because it would freak me out if it tasted too much like beef. Everything was right about this burrito, but $10 was pushing my limits. This was a special occasion, so I'm still satisfied.

The chips, salsa, and drink were also good. The chips were a bit salty, but that's no big deal. I really like the tomatillo salsa. The tea was nice and dark.

Overall, I thought it was good to finally try the Impossible Burger. It was just overpriced considering my other burrito options. I'll probably get the cheaper veggie burrito next time I'm at Qdoba.

Miyoko's Fresh Vegan Mozz

Wow! This product is amazing! This tastes just like real cheese. It's very flavorful. Amazingly flavorful. Miyoko's currently makes the best plant-based cheeses I've found in grocery stores. This brand is really impressing me, and they don't even pay me to say it. With cheese this good, I'll be the one paying. And I paid a hefty amount for this block of "cheese". It was about $8, but it goes a long way, and the flavor is heavenly! On the down side, I didn't care for the packaging. It doesn't open easily, and I couldn't reseal it.

It only tastes a small amount of this Miyoko's Mozz to turn a simple bowl of poverty spaghetti into a gourmet Italian dish. It's almost unbelievable how much better my pasta tasted.

This is why it's good for herbivores to try new foods. Don't get stuck eating the same things. The world is changing fast. New products are coming out. Go find something new to try. I was missing out this whole time because the price of this Mozz scared me away. I finally tried it, and now I can make real Italian food again. This product opens the door for so many opportunities!

Patty Melt At The Wild Cow Vegetarian Restaurant In Nashville TN

The Patty Melt is made with a black bean patty, grilled onions, vegan cheddar, spicy mustard, thousand island dressing, and sourdough bread. It came with a choice of sides. I went with the Lentil Stew. This sandwich would have been better with pickle slices, but this was still a great lunch.

This was my first visit to The Wild Cow since they moved to Five Points. The new location has an open-air seating area, but overall it doesn't seem to be bigger. The sound doesn't echo so much at the new location, but it is still uncomfortably loud.

The Wild Cow is a great place to eat some of the best vegan food you will find and meet very creative and interesting people. If you've never been, be prepared to see friendly people with tattoos, face paint, brightly colored hair, and fashion choices that simultaneously amaze, confuse, and inspire. Anything goes in the east side of Nashville.

Click here for The Wild Cow Vegetarian Restaurant website

Blue Plate at Laughing Seed Cafe In Asheville NC

I went back to Laughing Seed in Asheville for another fantastic vegan meal. And here's it is.

The Blue Plate was on the Sunday brunch menu. This plate included organic scrambled tofu, a vegan gravy biscuit, smoky potatoes, seitan “sausage” and a kale pickled onion salad". Every bite was perfect. The gravy biscuit and potatoes were the highlights of this meal.

If you order this, be sure to ask for the vegan version. Laughing Seed Cafe does offer this as a vegetarian meal with eggs. This meal was priced at $14 and did throw my budget off quite a bit. But this was real food made from scratch by professionals. It was worth the price, but I must save this kind of eating for special occasions.

Vegan Style Broccoli "Cheese" Baked Potato

I made myself a vegan style broccoli and "cheese" baked potato. This was as awesome as it looks!

This was a simple and inexpensive meal. I bought fresh stalks of broccoli. A bag of potatoes, and some Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds. I baked a potato in aluminum foil, chopped and steamed the broccoli, and melted the "cheese" on top with the microwave oven.

Of all the foods on this blog, this is one of my favorite home-made foods. I've been wanting to share this one with you for a while.

Vegan Christmas Dinner 2019

I shared a vegan meal with family for Christmas Eve. This meal included Gardein Turk'y Cutlets with gravy, biscuits, steamed green beans, and Daiya Deluxe White Cheddar Style Cheezy Mac. This is a merry Christmas. I have leftovers!

A Vegan Lunch At Fern in Charlotte NC

Just south of Uptown Charlotte in the Dilworth neighborhood there's an awesome mostly-vegan cafe called Fern. It's at the corner of a small shopping village with limited parking. Fern is where I enjoyed the best cauliflower that has ever entered my mouth.

Check out this heavenly mound of plant material! This is the Buffalo Cauliflower.

Buffalo Cauliflower at Fern in Charlotte NC

This cauliflower was battered and fried like regular chicken wings and seasoned with a tangy Buffalo sauce. It was topped with dill dressing and diced celery and carrots.

Before eating the food shown here, I had almost no experience with Buffalo Cauliflower. I knew it was a thing with some people, but I had never tried it. During this visit to Fern, I wanted to try something new. And when I asked the server to name the most popular dishes on the menu, this was one she recommended.

Even with this being served in a small skillet, the serving size was large. I could have shared this with 1 or 2 other people. The flavor was out of this world good. This was comfort food for the soul. I had no idea cauliflower could be so good.

Another mouth watering menu item from Fern is the Herbed Potatoes This skillet full of bliss is priced at $6. The portion size will feed 2 or 3 people. Again. this was a perfect comfort food with an awesome flavor and presentation.

Herbed Potatoes at Fern in Charlotte NC

During this visit to Fern, the service was very friendly. The servers even seemed to enjoy their jobs and get along with each other like friends. I felt like a guest and not just another customer. The servers offer a large jug of cold fresh water, so refills are not a problem at all. I drink plenty during my meals, so this was great. The dining area is a light-filled room with rustic and modern accents. The environment was calm and peaceful at the time of my visit. The only thing that would be a downside to this visit is the parking. I had to drive around Dilworth 3 times waiting to get a spot. But it was worth the trouble.


Click here to see the Fern Website

Lentil-Walnut Burger at Avo in Nashville TN

I finally found my way over to Avo in Nashville. I had the Lentil-Walnut Burger with Mac N Cheese and a pickle spear. Check out this beautiful plateful of plant material!

The Lentil-Walnut Burger is coconut muenster, lettuce, tomato, red onion, beet ketchup, chickpea mayo, sweet potato bun, and a lentil-walnut patty. This burger was amazing! This is one of the best plant-based burgers I've had. Perfect! The Mac N Cheese was good too, but the burger will be what brings me back.

Avo is a modern, 100% plant-based restaurant located in a small complex that appears to be built from cargo containers. The interior is stylish. The prices are a bit high. The food is absolutely awesome! They make real food! You should go there now. Now!

Click here to see the Avo website

Mellow Mushroom Vegan Garlic Cheese Bread

Here's another plant-based option at Mellow Mushroom. Order the Garlic Cheese Bread with vegan cheese instead of the regular cheese and without butter. Ask for a side of red sauce without the cheese that's usually sprinkled on top.

I actually wanted the garlic as it would usually have, but for some reason they thought I wanted it without garlic. No problem. I asked for a side of minced garlic and it was great.

Click here to see the Mellow Mushroom website

 

Home-made Vegan Sushi Bowl

After making vegan sushi rolls, I had leftover ingredients that I did not want to waste. I made a sushi bowl that consisted of sushi rice with vinegar, chopped avocado, the leftover scraps of my seaweed sheets, and couple packs of Taco Bell hot sauce. This was a good vegan poverty meal.

Vegan Thanksgiving 2019

This year I made vegan green bean casserole, vegan dressing, vegan mashed potatoes, and vegan pumpkin pie to share at a family gathering. Other vegan items were also available. I mainly ate what I brought. This year's meal, for me at least, was heavy on the carbohydrates. 

For desert my pumpkin pie was topped with So Delicious Coco Whip. This was some awesome home-made pie!  I'm not sharing the recipe. Sorry. Something this good needs to be a secret.

This is my first time trying the non-dairy Coco Whip. I had no idea it even existed until recently. It was a perfect addition to my amazingly delicious pumpkin pie. If you want to look for this whipped topping in stores, here's what the package looks like. This stuff is great!

A Snack at Gadsden Variety and Cafe in Gadsden AL

Gadsden Variety is an antique mall and cafe in historic downtown. The store is loaded with interesting things from the past mixed with crafts and furniture. They have a cafe inside and plenty of snacks at the front desk. Herbivores can eat the popcorn, but almost everything else there is for omnivores. If I remember correctly, this popcorn was less than a dollar.

Kombucha Flight at Rosetta's Kitchen in Asheville NC

At Rosetta's Kitchen, the grumpy couple at the table beside me were uncool, impatient, and rude. They complained out loud for a few minutes, then got up and left before their flight of draught Buchi kombucha was ready. That's fine. Rosetta's Kitchen is not for uptight people like them. When the kind server came to the empty table, my travel companion and I offered to buy it. We later noticed there was no charge for it.

Every one of these were excellent with very noticeable individual differences. Kombucha isn't for everyone, but I like it. If you've never tried it, you should. But be prepared. It can be intense.

It pays to be kind and patient with each other. Don't be like those grumpy people. If you're in a bad mood, don't spread it around. We are all one big family. Just be nice to people. Fake a smile until it's real. Have a kombucha and chill out a while.

Click here to see the Rosetta's Kitchen website

Tacos At Rosetta's Kitchen In Asheville NC

The tacos at Rosetta's Kitchen are made with a vegan chorizo. This is a simple plate of food, but don't let it fool you. That veggie chorizo is really good. It doesn't taste like meat, but this is so good it could make carnivores forget who they are. The size of this plate was good because it goes well with a side item, appetizer, or dessert.

Click here to see the Rosetta's Kitchen website

Veggie Wrap at Osa's Garden in Florence AL

I discovered Osa's Garden recently. They offer a vegan Veggie Wrap. It comes with romaine, tomato, cucumber, broccoli, olives, avocado, and a choice of tortilla. The price was $7.99, and it came with apple cider potato chips. This wrap was huge!

Veggie Wrap at Osa's Garden in Florence AL

This monster-sized wrap was perfect in every way. It was so big I had to take half with me. The ingredients were fresh and chunky. This was made with real food from the earth. Vegans don't have many choices in Florence AL, but this is an excellent one. The price almost scared me away, but this gave me 2 satisfying meals. I enjoyed every bite.

Osa's Garden is on the north side of Highway 72, just east of Florence. It's easy to miss, but it's worth finding.

A Vegan Breakfast at Honest Coffee Roasters in Huntsville AL

Honest Coffee Roasters has a few items on the menu that are clearly marked vegan. I ordered the Daybreak Bagel with black coffee at the Huntsville AL location. Look at this beautiful vegan breakfast!

Daybreak Bagel at Honest Coffee Roasters in Huntsville AL

This was excellent! Everything about this breakfast was perfect. The Daybreak Bagel is a blueberry bagel topped with almond butter, strawberries, bananas, blueberries, and chia seeds. I will definitely be back for more of this!

Click here to see the Honest Coffee Roasters website

A Vegan Lunch at BurgerFi in Montgomery AL

This is my first visit to BurgerFi. The restaurant was clean and modern. I went early to ask questions and avoid possible cross-contamination.

According to the website, the Vegan Beyond Burger and fries are the only vegan items on the menu. That is what I ordered.

The Vegan Beyond Burger came with lettuce, tomato, mustard, and ketchup. The manager said the burger is cooked separately from the meats. The burger looked and felt just like a beef burger. The taste was very mild, and it didn't really taste like beef. But that's good for me. Vegan food that tastes too much like real meat scares me. This was a pretty good plant-based burger.

The fries were nice and crisp on the outside. The serving size was larger than I expected. I was told the fries have their own frying oil, which is peanut oil.

I was pleased with my vegan meal at BurgerFi, however this meal was quite expensive. It was about $20 with a drink. While it was all very good, my opinion is that it was a bit overpriced. I would like to return, but the price will scare me away on most days. I'll reserve this for special craving days.

At BurgerFi, lacto-ovo vegetarians have the option to order the regular Beyond Burger (it comes with mayonnaise and a white bun), the VegiFi Burger (a veggie patty made with eggs and milk and served with mayonnaise), and onion rings (made with milk).

Click here to see the BurgerFi website

Vegan Lunch From Steak-Out In Huntsville AL

Steak-Out is a local delivery and take-out restaurant in Huntsville AL. Steak-Out is known for their meaty meals, but they do have some items for vegans and vegetarians. They have good baked potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, and sweet tea. They also have grilled onions and grilled mushrooms. I tried to get more information about those. All I could get from Steak-Out is that they're soaked in "soy sauce and other seasonings". Are they cooked on the same grill as the meat? Are they seasoned with cow blood? I don't know. It's a secret. Vegans, eat ate your own risk! I ate the onions and only tasted soy sauce and onions. I didn't get diarrhea, so that makes me feel a little bit better about it.

Here's the baked potato with grilled onions and a sweet tea. It came with butter and sour cream in small take-out packages. I just gave those to an omnivore.

This lunch was very good. Every part of it was perfect. Carnivores and omnivores have plenty of options at Steak-Out, but it seems that herbivores are limited to ordering the baked potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, and drinks.

Thai Dynamite at Pei Wei Asian Kitchen in Charlotte NC

I finally got the opportunity to eat at Pei Wei Asian Kitchen, not to be confused with Mei Wei Asian Bistro which I've posted on before. This Pei Wei experience was in the University area of Charlotte NC near N.Tryon St. and Harris Blvd.

Pei Wei focuses on fresh, hand-made foods with no preservatives or artificial flavors.. It's like a healthier version of P.F.Chang's with a walk up counter and a self-serve drink station.

To order a vegan meal at Pei Wei, I chose the Thai Dynamite with just veggies. I also chose the white rice. I could have added tofu as well, but I wanted to save money. Just to confirm, I asked the guy at the counter what he recommended for vegans. He knew the V word and immediately suggested this dish and the Honey Seared, both with veggies and tofu. The Honey Seared doesn't actually have honey in it.

This was really good. It did have an unexpected smokiness from being wok fried, but it didn't taste like meat or anything. It was slightly spicy. The veggies were cooked but still firm and brightly colored. Imagine a hot salad with a spicy soy sauce. I will try it with the tofu next time.

Also the Sweet and Sour with veggies and tofu should be vegan. They have edamame too.

A Vegan Breakfast at SpringHill Suites

SpringHill Suites had some pretty good breakfast choices for vegans. Here's the oatmeal. They had brown sugar, raisins, walnuts, and almonds to put on top.

Beans and Rice Plate at Rosetta's Kitchen in Asheville NC

This is organic long-grain brown rice with organic pinto beans served with sweet southern style slaw. The cornbread was an add-on. This meal is just one of many reasons to go eat at Rosetta's Kitchen right now!

The Beans and Rice Plate is Rosetta's "pay what you can" meal. The price is $2-$6 depending on what you can afford. It's nice to know that hungry people can eat fantastic food even if they're low on cash. I no longer live below the poverty level, so I always pay full price to pass it on. It's worth it!

Click here to see the Rosetta's Kitchen website

A Visit to Vegan Vee Gluten-Free Bakery in Nashville TN

While traveling down 46th Ave. I accidentally discovered the location of Vegan Vee Gluten-Free Bakery. An investigation was essential. I was already familiar with some of their products, but I had never been to the actual bakery until this visit.

Upon entry, I was greeted with a smile from the person inside as well as the wonderful smell of freshly baked blueberry muffins. I scanned the cases to find more vegan treasures than anticipated.

There was no way I would leave without at least several days worth of goodies. I chose one of each doughnut available, a Lemon Blueberry muffin, a Samoa muffin, and a Lemon Poppyseed muffin.

Everything I got was absolutely amazing! I don't know how they do it. This was all gluten-free and vegan, but it was all so good! Most gluten-free and vegan sweets have obviously weird textures or aftertastes. Everything I got at Vegan Vee was just like the real thing unless I really put some effort into finding differences. If I picked it apart and ate just the cake part alone I could notice a difference. With the icing or coating added, it was all just as good as any sweets.....or better! The chocolate doughnuts were definitely better.

The doughnuts were fantastic as a cooled snack. The chocolate was my favorite. The coating hardened like a shell to encapsulate the fluffy mildly sweet interior. The Samoa muffin was rich with smooth chocolate and crunchy coconut. Food for royalty. The slightly tart Lemon Poopyseed muffin was heavenly and coated with hardened icing as sweet as love. The Lemon Blueberry muffin was sweet and tangy with thrilling flavors that blended like a fireworks finale. These sweets were sinfully good.

From experience I must conclude that there is no way to go wrong with this bakery. Of course I should try every item and double check my findings before I make such a claim. No problem. I will return!

Click here to see the Vegan Vee Gluten-Free Bakery website

A Vegan Publix Veggie Sub at Publix Deli

Publix Deli can make an awesome vegan sub sandwich. I got the white bread with spicy mustard, all the veggies, and topped with oil, vinegar, and oregano. I also chose to get a Publix Deli Peach Tea. This is one of the best sandwiches around! And their tea is great too!

To make this vegan, order this with the white bread. The wheat bread contains honey. They may also have other vegan bread options available, such as the White Mountain bread. But do read the ingredients first. Just go next door to the bakery and read the bread labels.

NOTE: The bread shown here contains L-Cysteine and other questionable ingredients which may or may not be animal derivatives. So this option depends on how selective one chooses to be.

Publix Deli is well-known for cleanliness. The entire deli is thoroughly sanitized everyday. The machines are completely disassembled and sanitized several times a day. Even the floor gets scrubbed and sanitized daily. Also, Publix makes the employees wear those humiliating hair and bread nets, even if they have a shaved head and light casts a shadow on a cheek. But mustaches and long arm hair are allowed? The rules really do drift into absurdity and insanity. So the cleanliness of the deli itself is not usually an issue.

The problems to watch for as a vegan is the used bread knife and gloves, the deli clerk going to the slicer for fresh ingredients, and flies caught in the plexiglass bread box. If you get there early, these issues will be the troubles of other people. Vegans, Go early!

Firstly, it's a good idea to ask for a clean knife and a glove change if you suspect possible contamination at the sub station. Anticipate that the customer before you will have already ordered a bloody roast beef sandwich with provolone cheese and mayonnaise and that the knife is covered in animal residue. Secondly, the deli clerk will occasionally run out of veggies and use the cheese slicer (or even worse, the meat slicer) to slice more veggies. According to company rules, the veggies should be sliced on a separate slicer, but some people are nasty and lazy. And at busy times, all slicers are used for animal products, so there may not be a designated veggie slicer. And finally, on too many occasions, I've seen flies trapped in the bread box. The deli clerks will act like they don't see it.

Go early. They can make a sandwich as soon as the bread is done in the morning. Publix Deli veggie subs make great vegan breakfasts!

If you'd like to see another great vegan sub from the Publix Deli, check out the new Garlic and Herb Tofu Sub.

Lance Peanut Bar

This is my favorite Lance product. I'm so glad it's still vegan, unlike the peanut butter crackers. The Peanut Bar is a sweet, salty, crunchy snack that's satisfying enough that it can replace a meal. This is one of the very few vegan items you may find in vending machines and gas stations. It's also one of the very few vegan items available from Lance. This goes very well with a cold Dr Pepper or Coca-Cola. 

Charlotte Vegfest 2019

I had a fun day at Vegfest in Charlotte NC. They had plenty of food, free samples, coupons, food trucks, and vegan products. The event was packed full of people, but it was mostly well-organized for an event this size. The huge room was loud with excited people. Everyone seemed to be very friendly and patient. Getting around was still a challenge. Maybe because everyone is going vegan! The vegans are taking over!

I knew I'd better find food fast before the vendors sold out of tasty herbivore foods. I found Ve-go Vegan To Go and ordered some nachos. They were amazing! The vegan queso was great, the pico de gallo was fresh, the beans were smooth and had a nice home-made taste. The chips were crispy, and the peppers tasted like they were just picked from the garden.

Nachos by Ve-go To Go

My travel companion had the tostadas, said they were excellent, and pointed out that the beans were especially good.

Tostadas by Ve-go To Go

I also shared the Fried Veggie Rolls by Vietgrill Vietnamese Vegan Cuisine. It's been a while since I've had one of these. It was excellent!

Fried Veggie Rolls by Vietgrill Vietnamese Vegan Cuisine

A friendly stranger sharing my table allowed me to photograph her awesome choice of lunch. Here's the Loaded Pineapple Bowl by Lotus Land. It's served in a pineapple!

Loaded Pineapple Bowl by Lotus Land

I enjoyed chatting with vendors and trying some free samples. The Barvecue is a great alternative to jerky. They had another flavor but I tried the original. It was great! It tastes like beef jerky, almost. If I see it in stores I'll buy it.

Barvecue Original Vegan Jerky

No Evil Foods is usually at these events. Here's a free sample they were offering. It looks like No Evil Pit Boss vegan barbecue. I could be wrong. All of their products are excellent.

Free samples of No Evil

Whole Foods had a really good vegan chicken salad sample but my photo was blurry. It was one of the best samples at the event.

To end the visit I had vegan Mac and Cheese by Fern, a local vegan cafe. I knew their foods are excellent from personal experience, but I never tried their Mac and Cheese until this moment. It was heavenly! Some of the best vegan mac and cheese I've had! But I found a hair in the bottom of the bowl. I really wish that didn't happen. I couldn't eat that last part. I went from being in bliss to being grossed out.

Mac and Cheese by Fern

On the way out I bought a shirt. That's all I have for you about Vegfest in Charlotte. It was fun. Maybe I'll be back next time.