There is a little village outside Boston (right off the Pike) that should be on all vegans’ travel plans – Allston. Similar to Portland’s vegan mini mall, there is a corner at a major intersection with a vegan chinese food restaurant, vegan ice cream shop, and the newest member – Root.
Root occupies the space that used to feature Peace O’ Pie, one of my staple vegan establishments in Boston. But they occupy it well, offering something new to the scene.
The branding and space design is beautiful and a respite from the urban environment of Allston.
When you really boil it down (no pun intended), the point of food is to act as nourishment for our bodies. Somewhere along the line, the importance of food changed into more of a social and even ideological undertaking. What a luxury.
I consider the ability to be vegan a highly privileged option. A lot of people in this World barely have enough to eat, and yet vegans can determine what they want to eat on an ideological level. Let me say that again.
We actually have the luxury of turning down certain foods because we don’t agree with how it was raised/what it is/where it comes from/how it is cooked/etc.
As vegans, we have all lived on some deserted islands. We have all defended our protein intakes. And, we have spoken (or perhaps marched) on behalf of the animals.
But of all the curves the omni crowd throws at me, the one I struggle with the most is the topic of processed foods.
I am what I like to call a “meaty vegan.” I grew up in the woods of New England, eating wholesome foods like ham steaks, meatloaf, and spaghetti sauce “flavored with meat.” So personally I enjoy the meat analogs that allow me to bridge the gap between my personal heritage and veganism.
I am a meaty vegan, and this is my food.
But that also comes with it’s own set of concerns, mostly around the fact that most of this food is highly processed and contains a lot of oil, salt, and sugars.
In my opinion, there are two titans of the vegan “fast/casual” restaurant market: Veggie Grill and Native Foods.
Fortunately for us vegans, they both take a different approach on their food so we truly get to enjoy the strengths of each.
Bright and light, the interiors of NFC are always inviting.
Veggie Grill uses purchased meat analogs where Native Foods makes all their own stuff. Both options are great, but with Native Foods you can enjoy food that you just can’t make at home. Another plus? Native Foods has ventured further inland than VG, with locations in places like Boulder, Washington D.C., and Chicago.
One of my fav dinners to make is something I threw together a long time ago. We had a few different vegan meats left over and I wanted to combine them into a hearty dinner.
A yummy, easy dinner.
This vegan pasta bake is easy, hearty, and makes great leftovers for work.
There was a study (er, an article I saw on the internet, so it MUST be true) that there is a certain color of red that instinctively makes humans hungry.
Think about one fast food brand that does not have this same red in it: McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Jack in the Box, Carl’s Jr., In ‘N Out, etc.
It just so happens that the vegan meatballs at Brass Tacks are the EXACT same red. That must be the reason I am drooling like a Pavlov dog each time I walk into the place.
Their meatballs bring all the boys to the yard. Damn right, they’re better than yours.
Brass Tacks is in a non-descript building facing Vancouver at Fremont. The interior is austere and a bit cold, attributed mostly to the huge glass windows along the front that make for great people watching.
Hmmm Dovetail must be operating under a secret bunker somewhere in Alberta. How are they still making cookies!?
While BT is very accommodating and knowledgeable about veganism, they do serve meat, so keep an eye out on the menu.
But what a menu.
What the menu lacks in quantity (there are 4 options + 1 special), Brass Tacks makes up for in quality. The white bean meatballs are housemade, and they are some of the best I have ever had. The housemade “ham” is also amazing.
4 vegan items and 4 meat!? WE TIE!
I have yet to try the Salamigeddon, as the word “spicy” scares off this New Englandah. Their new Curry Chicken Salad will be my next choice for sure. But those meatballs are just amazing and I find it hard to order anything else.
Melanie tried the Velveeta Underground along with the potato salad, claiming to love both. The sammy looked really good, but paled in the sloppy beauty of my meatball sub. I tried the potato salad and it was good, but I am not a huge potato salad fan, so take my criticism with a grain of salt. Or paprika, as there was a metric ton of it on the salad.
Velveeta Underground, sans Velveeta. Or ground.
Brass Tacks is an in-and-out place with not much in the way of comfort. But that is part of the allure of the joint. It’s utilitarian yet the kraft paper tray liners harken back to a 1940s lunch bell place, where lunch was scarfed and you went back to riveting the bridge together before your 20 mile uphill walk back home to milk the cows.
Not sure who Lou or Neil are, but how do you get your own cup at this place?
And that is why Brass Tacks will be on my fav lunch spot list along with the Veggie Grills, Homegrowns, and DC Veg’s of the world. They offer enough difference to make it awesome. In Portland, no two lunches are ever created equal.
I still make the choo-choo noise every time I eat.
Next time you are craving a great, hearty lunch that is relatively inexpensive and delicious, hit up Brass Tacks.
This is no joke: Earlier this week, we went to New Seasons to buy a package of Beyond Meat‘s newest product – Beyond Beef. Each place we looked however did not yet have Beyond Beef. So when I arrived at home, I was so surprised to find a package on my porch – a freezer pack from Beyond Meat! They sent me two retail packs – one of their “feisty” flavors, and one of the standard “beefy” flavor.
My freezer surprise straight from Beyond Meat!
So tonight we decided to use the feisty version for taco night. This is a super easy, delicious dinner that easily fed 3.
First, combine the Beyond Beef, corn, black beans, garlic and onions in a frying pan. Brown slightly.
Brown everything slightly.
Second, build your tacos!
Third, enjoy!
Yum!!
This was our first time trying the new Beyond Beef. The second we put it in the pan, we could recognize a difference from all other ground up beef crumbles. It was more substantial, and had a great color and texture. It cooked easy and uniformly.
In the tacos, the Beyond Beef was delicious – adding its own flavors. Beyond Beef is an awesome new addition to the vegan crumbles market, and I look forward to using it in many other dishes!
There is a small, obscure, sea-foam green food cart tucked into the corner of the Mississippi cart pod. To the untrained eye, it is yet another cart slinging hipster chow. To the vegans of Portland, it is a shining beacon of real-deal, home-smoked, vegan BBQ.
The little cart that can. And does.
And it is amazing.
I have been a fan of Homegrown Smoker (HGS) since they had a spot down in SW Portland. Ever since those early days, Homegrown has been a pinnacle of the vegan scene in Portland and is one of my Top 5 spots in the US.
My favorite used to be the Loafaroni, a “meat”loaf sandwich made up of a slathering of BBQ sauce, a heaping scoop of mac no cheese, meatloaf, and two buttered, crispy buns. It is still my favorite, but I accidentally read the fat content of the Field Roastmeat loaf they use, and well….the nutrition facts were a little startling. Even for vegan food, it was a little “rich.”
Slow Smo Mo Fo with a side of Mac.
HGS also revised their menu and the Loafaroni took a bit of a sabbatical. During that time I became pretty enamored with the SlowSmoMoFo, a BBQ sandwich of seasoned soy c urls, cole slaw and maple bourbon BBQ sauce. Order it with a side of Mac no Cheese and you have a winner.
The menu at HGS is a collection of southern-esque BBQ fare; with offerings such as the Carolina Chicken Sandwich (BBQ and Beyond Meat together in a sammy), Smoked Tempeh Burger, Sweet Potato Fries, and a Combo Platter.
The menu at HGS.
The menu has a decent variety of food for the regulars, but the specials are really where the tough decisions need to be made.
With specials like “Another Good Burrito” (A grilled wheat tortilla filled with psstrami, sweet potato fries, Daiya, Mac No Cheese, Broccoli, Grilled Peppers, onions and mellow yellow sauce) and the “Buff Burrito” (Tempeh Facon, smoked Beyond Meat, Buff Sauce, Mac no Cheese, french fries, tomato, raw greens, and creamy ranch), it can often be hard to choose your lunch.
Today’s special: The Buff Burrito.
There really aren’t any complaints with HGS. Their food is top notch, vegan BBQ comfort food. Their hours can be a bit flimsy, but that is to be expected with a food cart operation. If you are traveling in from a distance, be sure they are open (the cart life seems to be plagued with closures for many issues).
My personal goal is to try more of their options, and not the same ol’ slow smo mo fo. Honestly, though it is really hard when you have an absolute favorite!
Homegrown Smoker is a pillar of the vegan food scene in Portland. I hope one day to see them mature out of the cart and into something more permanent…so I can sleep better at night.
Portland is just like B-Town, except we have mass transit. And more people. And more bikes. And, sadly, much more vegan stuff.
I have been so frustrated when visiting my old mother land, as the vegan options are so, so hard to find.
But there, on the horizon, Stone Soup shines for all the wayward vegans searching for something deelish to eat.
Looking out into Burlington’s snowy, frosty streets from the warmth of Stone Soup.
Stone Soup is my personal Mecca when it comes to chowing down in this small city, and on this visit I could not wait to get my grub on.
The ambiance is always warm and inviting. While lunch seating can be a real challenge, later meals offer a lot more room to stretch out. While their menu is not all vegan (they even serve meat), they are VERY accommodating and everything is well marked. The staff is intelligent about veganism and always aims to please.
They have a series of pre-baked goodies from cookies and scones, to muffins and crisps. Most everything has a vegan option, but the selection for us egg and milk free folks is much smaller. Plus, I would LOVE a vegan blueberry muffin here, they always seem to have odd, complex vegan muffin choices.
A nice selection of vegan baked goods. I am still waiting for an amazing blueberry muffin!
You have two primary options when it comes to your meal – choose and build you own plate from the hot bar (which seems to always change based on seasonal offerings) or an old time standard from the chalkboard menu behind the counter.
Vegan and non-vegan options united!
Last time, I built my own plate but the price was pretty steep. As it goes by weight ($10+ per pound) you may want to skip the rice and other staples, and focus on the new and exciting offerings.
Salad bar is fresh and clean.
When it comes to ordering off the board, I can never afford to deviate from one of the best vegan reubens I have ever had. Their “Seitan Reuben” is made of thinly sliced (and ever so slightly crispy-on-the-edges) seitan that is perfectly seasoned. The vegan cheese offeres a nice creaminess to the whole sammy, but it can get messy. So grab a stack of napkins.
Quite possibly, one of the best vegan reubens. #notkidding
What good is an amazing vegan meal without some dessert? I opted for the Strawberry-peach crisp on this cold 15 degree day. It was warmed in the oven and tasted absolutely brilliant. The oat topping really gives it some heft, as my sister wasn’t able to finish her helping (easy enough for me to lend assistance).
“I wonder how much for the whole bowl” I thought to myself. But only ate a cup.
We ended our meal with a cup of coffee and some great conversation.
If in Burlington, be sure to make Stone Soup a stop. Leave yourself enough time to try a bunch of their goodies, and take some for the road. And just maybe they will have a vegan blueberry muffin waiting at the counter.
This recipe is from one of Melanie’s fav blogs, Oh She Glows. Photos are mine from tonight’s cooking session!
Tonight Melanie whipped up some amazing vegan lasagna and I thought I owed my vegan friends a yummy recipe to get us through this cold, snowy snap in Portland.
This lasagna is amazing!
First, whip up your cashew cheese:
Yield: ~1 cup
1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for 30+ mins
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup vegetable broth or water (or more as needed)
3/4-1 tsp kosher salt (or to taste) + freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder (optional)
Blending everything up for the cheese.
1. Drain and rinse soaked cashews. With the food processor turned on, drop in your garlic cloves and process until chopped. Add in the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth, scraping down the bowl as needed.
Always wash your basil!
Preparing the Lasagna
2. We used 2 jars of Muir Glen Garlic Roasted Garlic organic spag sauce to save time.
3. Her recipe also calls for sautee’d veggies, we skipped this step and went with a more traditional lasagna. If you want to include veggies:
Her recipe calls for chopping 1 sweet onion, 1 large red pepper, 2 small zucchini, 1 cup of cremini mushrooms, and minced 3 garlic cloves.
4. Boil the lasagna noodles.
5. Layer your lasagna as you wish. We went with sauce, noodles, cheese, mozz cheese, sauce, noodles, cheese. Our local store was OUT OF DAIYA so we gave Follow Your Heart a try and had to shred it at home. Not too bad, but I am a Daiya snob so next time I will be sure to use that.
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Off-road Vegan 