Beyond Meat Fajitas!!

I'm off to Portland for the second bi-annual Vida Vegan Con food bloggers conference! So this will be my last post until next Wednesday. But don't worry — I'll share oodles of drool-worthy shots of vegan doughnuts, vegan s'mores, gorditas, and goddess know what else I'll find in the vegan mecca when I return. And of course, I'll have lots of fun stories about hanging out with other bloggers!

Since I'll be gone for so long, I want to leave you with something good. How about a review and recipe using Beyond Meat? The folks at Beyond Meat, a new plant-based chicken that tastes and feels alarmingly like animal chicken, sent me samples of three of their chicken-free strip flavors to review in conjunction with their national release of Beyond Meat products at Whole Foods stores. Before, some Whole Foods (like the one here) carried prepared deli foods made with Beyond Meat, but now you can find it in the freezer case!

And if that wasn't awesome enough, Tropical Smoothie shops have begun carrying Beyond Meat for their wraps. The world is a beautiful place, my friends.

So how is it? Well, y'all know I love some plant meat, right? I've tried every plant meat I can get my hands on cause deep-down I'm a meat-and-potatoes gal who just can't bear to eat other breathing creatures. And I'll tell ya, this is the most realistic-tasting vegan meat on the market. It looks like meat. It tastes like meat. It even fooled my omni partner Paul (okay, he knew it was plant meat when he tried it, but he said it was delicious ... and that means a lot coming from him).

I got three flavors from the Beyond Meat folks, but tonight, I'll feature the Southwest Style because that's all I've had time to play with.

The soy-based meat comes in strips, and Southwest Style is seasoned with chili powder, garlic, cumin, oregano, coriander, green pepper, and cayenne. Perfect for making fajitas!

I whipped up some Southwest Style Beyond Meat Fajitas for a quick weeknight meal.

Here's an inside shot (look at that sexy guacamole).

Here's the recipe.

Southwest Style Beyond Meat Fajitas
----------------------------------------------
1 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, sliced into strips
1 green pepper, sliced into strips
1 frozen 12-ounce package of Beyond Meat Chicken-Free Strips, Southwest Style
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
4 tortillas
Guacamole
Lettuce
Tomatoes

Heat the oil on medium heat in a non-stick skillet. Add the onion and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the peppers and saute for about 3 minutes, until they begin to soften.

Add the Beyond Meat strips and spices. Stir to coat. Saute 7 to 10 minutes, until Beyond Meat is browned and veggies are tender.

Serve in tortillas with guacamole, lettuce, and tomatoes.

Bluff City Vegan Eats: Hunger Monkey

Last Friday was National Bike to Work Day, and even though it was gloomy and drizzly on Friday in Memphis, my co-worker Mark Plumlee and I rode bikes to work anyway. We participate in Bike to Work Day every year.

The ride from my Crosstown house to my downtown office takes about 45 minutes, and there are bike lanes for much of the drive. Memphis has become incredibly bike-friendly over the last two years with 55-plus miles of bike lanes added across the city. A few years ago, folks around here didn't know what a bike lane was!

Not only has Memphis grown more bike-friendly, it's also become way more vegan-friendly (as I'm sure you can tell in my Bluff City Vegan Eats series posts). Portland of the South? Not quite yet. I'd give that distinction to Atlanta or Austin. But we're getting there for sure. Case in point: the Hunger Monkey food truck.

Every year, there's a little Bike to Work Day festival at lunch time in Court Square. Typically, there's live music and food trucks and lots of cyclists hanging out. But since it's rained, hardly anyone showed up at this year's fest. Mark and I were there though. And so was Dawn Vinson, Bike to Work Day's Memphis organizer (who also happens to be vegan!). And guess who else was there? A vegan-friendly food truck!

Hunger Monkey is a new truck. It's only been on the streets for a few weeks, but I'd read about it on the Hungry Memphis blog. They serve meat, but they have plenty of vegan options. There's a vegan pasta dish, hummus and pita, and all the veggie sides are vegan. You can make a plate of four sides for $8. So that's what I did.

There's Couscous with Tomatoes and Basil, Roasted Okra, Cooked Collards and Kale, and a Kale and Orzo Salad.

The roasted okra was AMAZING! As much as I adore fried okra, I have to admit that I think I love roasted okra more (here's my recipe). These guys season theirs with a spicy Cajun-like seasoning. So good.

The kale and orzo salad was also amazing. The raw kale was massaged, and I liked how there were more veggies than grains. And the couscous was fantastic (but I did have to add some extra salt). The cooked greens, which are buried under the okra in this picture, were really tasty too. They were slow-cooked, Southern-style greens, and there were little mushrooms chopped up in there.

With a good 30-minute bike ride home ahead of me, it was nice to fuel up on fresh veggies rather than something fake meaty or fried (my usual go-to dining out fare).

If you're in Memphis and you'd like to find where Hunger Monkey will be parked next, check their Facebook page.

Artsy Vegan Buffet Dinner in My 'Hood!

For the last four years, my neighborhood arts organization, Crosstown Arts, has been holding annual MemFEAST dinners. What's MemFEAST? Well, the "Mem" stands for "Memphis," and FEAST is an acronym for "Funding Emerging Artists with Sustainable Tactics." Still not clear? Let me explain.

Community members and arts supporters from all over the city pay $35 for a ticket to MemFEAST.  Money from all the ticket sales — plus some generous donor contributions — totals at $5,000. In return for their $35 ticket, patrons get a massive and awesome vegan dinner. And while they're eating dinner, artists make presentations for art projects that they could create with that $5,000. After the presentations are through, the patrons vote for their favorite art project. The winner gets the $5,000 to make their art project a reality.

I love the MemFEAST concept, and I've attended the event every year. The meal hasn't always been all vegan (the first two years featured a mostly vegan menu with one or two meat dishes for the omnis). But for the past two years, Chef/farmer Miles McMath has been preparing the food. And he makes everything vegan! Crosstown Arts, the arts organization that represents my neighborhood in Memphis, is probably the most vegan-friendly arts organization in town. They always have vegan options at their events, and many times, all of the food is vegan. Lucky me!

This year's MemFEAST event happened on Saturday night. Each year, the location has changed, but this year may have been my very fave. The party was held outdoors on the V&E Greenline, a 1.8-mile bike and pedestrian path on an old rail track. It was like a lovely garden party!

Here I am (with new hair!)

And here are my friends Cassi and Greg, who are both vegan as well, checking out the menu before dinner.

Each table had multiple bottles of Ginger-Basil Aqua Fresca.

And look at these adorable decorations! Old airplane-sized liquor bottles with flowers!

The buffet was AMAZING!!! It started with antipasto — Heirloom Bean Hummus, Olive Tapenade, Raw Veggies, Portobello Mousse, and Burnt Naan (The naan had a light grilled flavor and was among my favorite things).

And there was French Lentil Caviar, Beet Tartare, Pickled Spring Vegetables, and Rustic Bread.

But the real icing on the cake was the vegan slider bar! I had one of each! There were Edamame & White Bean Burgers with Field Lettuce, Spring Onion, and Chow Chow, Redneck Reubens made from Vegan Andouille, Kimchee, and Creole Remoulade, Green Lentil & Quinoa Burgers with Vindaloo Vegetables, and Tamarind Chutney, Hominy-Green Chili Burgers with Avocado, Salsa Roja, and Lime Crema, and Sweet Tater Logs with Chipotle Ketchup.

And at the end of the buffet (and I failed to take a picture) were Curry Spiced Tofu with Broccoli Rabe and Basil-Mint Pesto, Sweet Corn & Farro Risotto with Green Butterbeans and Arkansas "Feta" (my fave!), and Springtime Soba Noodles with Ginger Miso Broth, Pok Choi, Daikon, and Shoots.

And let's not forget dessert! Brownies and Raw Peach Cobbler with Green Wheat Freekah Crust.

I tried everything on the menu. So needless to say, my plate was a little overstuffed. I took a picture of Greg's much tidier, less gluttonous plate.

After dinner, we were so full! But the artists' presentations helped get our minds off our very full bellies. Five artists gave presentations, and the winner was Jeannie Tomlinson Saltmarsh, who proposed the installation on the greenline of metal fish sculptures that move with the wind.

We stayed for awhile after dinner and drank more wine. Look how lovely this little garden party was after dark!

Another successful MemFEAST has come and gone, and this one was definitely the best so far.

Tasty Bite = Tasty

As much as I love to cook, I also adore convenience foods, especially when they're made from all-natural ingredients. Meals made from boxes and bags take me back to childhood summers, when I considered TV dinners to be a luxury reserved for those precious few weeks when school was out and mom and dad had to work. Having the house to myself and getting to eat food from the microwave was glorious!

But I don't even want to think about what sorts of crazy processed wonders were contained in those tv dinners of my youth. Remember Kid Cuisines? Lived off of those during the summer. Anyway, these days my convenience meals are much healthier. I love Amy's frozen meals and Tasty Bite microwavable pouches. A few weeks ago, Tasty Bite sent me a box of several meals to review. While I'd already tried (and loved) a few of these, some were new to me.

First I tried the Thai Lime Rice as a side dish to some Beyond Meat Thai Chicken Salad from the Whole Foods deli. I used romaine hearts as little raw burrito shells to scoop up the salad and rice.

I was immediately struck by the tenderness of this rice. You'd think something from a bag that takes 90 seconds to warm in the microwave wouldn't have a perfect texture. But on the contrary, this rice had a better texture than rice I make from scratch. It was delicately seasoned with lime, coconut, and lemongrass. And every ingredient in the ingredient list was something real — water, rice, coconut milk, sunflower oil, raw sugar, kaffir lime, the list goes on, and nothing is unpronouncable.

I brought the Kung Pao Asian Noodles to work.

These were also perfect in texture. It's crazy how pasta and rice in a bag can be so amazing. The noodles were spicy, and the Tasty Bite folks were quite generous with the peanuts that flecked the dish. Although it didn't look like much food in the bag, this was actually really filling. It said it made two servings, but it was really enough for one healthy serving.

Next up was the Punjab Eggplant with the Ginger Lentil Rice.

I'd had the eggplant dish before, and it's one of my favorite Tasty Bite entrees. Spicy, tomato-y, onion-y goodness. And dare I say better than some similar dishes that I've had at Indian restaurants. It was a perfect complement to the Ginger Lentil Rice, which was made with long-grain rice tossed with brown lentils and red peppers.

I had the Channa Masala over some leftover brown rice. The chickpeas were perfectly textured, and the sauce had a complex coriander and ginger flavor that could rival many homemade channa masala dishes.

Finally, I tried the Pad Thai Asian Noodles in the most unusual of circumstances. A few weekends ago, when I was at the Memphis in May Beale Street Music Festival, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to find vegan food in the park. So I packed an emergency bag with some energy bars and easy-to-eat snacks. Just in case I needed a heavier meal, I packed my Tasty Bite Pad Thai Noodles.

Although I did end up finding some delicious vegan tacos there, there was one night of the fest that I got hungry for a late-night snack. So I whipped out my Pad Thai Noodles and ate them cold, straight from the pack. They were so good that I had to make crazy eyes!

Since the noodles are pressed into a square before cooking, you can almost eat them like a candy bar when you're on the go. And cold Asian noodles dishes are always a winner! These hit the spot! You could even take these camping or hiking!

NOLA Veggie Fest, Day Two

In case you missed my last couple of posts, I should begin this one by telling y'all that I spent the past weekend at NOLA Veggie Fest in New Orleans. I did two cooking demos and signed lots of books during the two-day festival. And I also had loads of fun! Here are my pics from Sunday (day two).

I intended to wake up extra early, go running, and then grab brunch at Surrey's Cafe & Juice Bar (tofu migas! vegan pain perdu!). But we stayed out too late on Frenchmen Street the night before. So Paul and I slept in and took advantage of the free hotel breakfast once again. But this time, I got creative.

I had some nutritional yeast in the hotel room leftover from Saturday's cooking demo. I took the free oats from the hotel breakfast, added some walnuts, green onions, and salsa from the breakfast bar, and then stirred in the nutritional yeast back in the hotel room. Best hotel breakfast ever! I will forever travel with nooch for this reason.

I was supposed to do my cooking demo for BBQ Tempeh & Carrot Sliders with Creamy Poppyseed Coleslaw (from Cookin' Crunk) at 2 p.m. on Sunday. But there was scheduling error, and Chef AJ and I were double-booked for the same time. We thought the times were worked out, but as we were parking the car at noon (the time the festival opened on Sunday), I got a call from the Veggie Fest organizers asking if I could go on right away. Eeeek!

I'm flexible, so we rushed inside and Paul and I set up the demo area in a flash. Within 15 minutes of our arrival, I was cooking up some tempeh for the small audience (the crowd was slim since the festival had just opened the doors). We forgot to take any pictures!

That was a little stressful, but once it was over, I had the whole day to sign books and eat free samples again! On Sunday, the Field Roast and Viana plant meat station next to us had added a whole line of Viana sandwich spreads, which I snacked on ALL DAY LONG! The onion butter was the best! I can't wait to order a few of these from Vegan Essentials.

Here's a shot of some of the booths in the front of the Healing Center, where our table was. I love all the prayer flags!

There were chickens too! Kasla's Ark Bird Rescue brought along three of their rescued chickens, and they were dressed in tiny diapers!

There was a juice bar!

I ordered a Carrot-Apple-Pear-Ginger Juice for a post-cooking demo pick-me-up.

Around 2 p.m., my tummy was growling. So I sent Paul to the fest's back lot to fetch me a massive slice of vegan pie! The folks at Mardi Gras Zone were making vegan pizzas all day and biking them over to the fest. Mine had zucchini and olives! So good! I like my vegan cheese pizza with lots and lots of Daiya, and this did not disappoint. In fact, this may have been the best pizza I've ever had.

Well, that's it for the pictures. It's all pretty anti-climatic from here. We left the festival at 6 p.m. and headed out of town for the 6-hour road trip home to Memphis. Dinner was a Black Bean Cantina Bowl (hold the cilantro dressing) with chips and guac from Taco Bell in Jackson, Mississippi.

NOLA Veggie Fest, Day One

I spent the weekend in New Orleans at the annual NOLA Veggie Fest, a fund-raiser for the Humane Society of Louisiana. I signed books and led cooking demos on both days of the fest, but since I took so many pictures, I've decided to break the fest into two posts. Here's my day one recap.

Paul and I grabbed free breakfast in the hotel. They had oats, so I added brown sugar and raisins to mine. And I had some of the breakfast potatoes. Then we headed down to the New Orleans Healing Center, home of Veggie Fest.

I had the first cooking demo of the day at 11:15 a.m., so I set up my table and got to work demonstrating my Eggless Tofu Olive Salad from Cookin' Crunk.

After the demo, I moved to the booksigning table I shared with Ellen Jaffe Jones, author of Eat Vegan on $4 a Day. Both Ellen and I were published through Book Publishing Company (yes, that's the name!), and they very generously paid my way to come to New Orleans for this event. My publisher Bob and Book Pub Co employee Sal staffed their book sales booth next to our signing table. Both Ellen and I led demos/talks and signed books all day.

It was great meeting Ellen! She's a devoted marathon runner, and since I plan to run my first half this year, she gave me lots of tips for increasing mileage and proper stretching. She's also a whiz at book sales, so I think I learned a few things from sharing a table with her (note to self: laminate press about the book and set that up at my signings).

We were stationed right next to the Viana and Field Roast plant meat sampling station, so I snacked on gyro meat and sausages all morning. But I was still famished by noon. Paul and I hit up this Fat Falafel food truck parked in the Veggie Fest's back lot.

I ordered the Fat Sandwich (a falafel and pita sandwich topped with root veggie slaw, French fries, and vegan garlic sauce). Nothing says amazing like fries on a sandwich, my friends. I typically eat a French fry po'boy when I'm in New Orleans, but this was the next best thing. And that garlic sauce was so yummy (yes, there are falafel balls hidden under all those fries)!

After lunch, I met a unicorn in the parking lot!

I stayed at the signing table for most of the day, but I did wander around long enough to buy three vegan message tees and a cute cotton dress. Oh, and I sampled bars and plant meats all day!

The NOLA Veggie Fest folks planned an after-party with a burlesque show at Cafe Istanbul after the event. Since we'd been snacking all day, we weren't really hungry for dinner. But we couldn't resist vegan lasagna! A catering company had Rice Noodle Lasagna, Vegan Jambalaya, and Potato Salad. When we got there, the lasagna was almost gone! But there was just enough.

Not the prettiest plating, but both were tasty as hell.

After the burlesque show, Paul and I headed to Frenchman Street to check out the local bar scene. There we ran into fellow Veggie Fest speakers Dr. Casey Taft (Vegan Publishers co-founder and author of Mom, Dad, I'm Vegan: A Guide for Understanding Your Vegan Family Member), Will Travel for Vegan Food blogger Kristen LaJeunesse, and vegan boxer Omowale Adewale. We all tucked into a very crowded reggae bar for a bit. Then Paul and I wandered down the street and found a cool goth bar. 

We finally ended the night at a 24-hour cafe — Tic Toc Cafe — by our hotel. Paul had some meaty breakfast plate, and I stuck with coffee since the place wasn't vegan-friendly. Check out this place's motto!

Tomorrow, I'll fill y'all in on day two and share more pics from Veggie Fest!

From Jackson, Mississippi to New Orleans

I spent the weekend in New Orleans for the annual NOLA Veggie Fest, where I gave two cooking demos and signed books alongside Eat Vegan on $4 a Day author Ellen Jaffe Jones. I'll tell y'all all about Veggie Fest in posts tomorrow and Wednesday. But tonight, I want to share pics of what I found to eat before the festival began.

Paul and I left Memphis in my trusty old Nissan on Friday morning. And though we didn't plan it this way, we arrived in Jackson, Mississippi just in time for lunch at the High Noon Cafe. High Noon Cafe is a vegetarian (mostly vegan) cafe in Jackson that's only open during the lunch hour on week days. My parents and I always stop there for lunch on road trips to New Orleans, but it's been a few years since we've been. I didn't even know if High Noon was still open for business. But when I realized we'd be entering Jackson at lunch, I googled. Sure enough, High Noon is still open!

High Noon is located inside the Rainbow Co-op Grocery in Jackson, and since we got there a few minutes before lunch service was to begin, Paul and I wandered around the co-op for a bit. I found all sorts of vegan awesomeness that I can't buy in Memphis! Kelp noodles! Savi seeds! Irish cream agave! Ricemallow Cream! So needless to say, I did a little shopping.

When 11:30 a.m. struck, High Noon opened its doors. I had the Good Burger (a black-eyed pea patty) on whole wheat toast with Daiya cheddar, roasted peppers, and High Noon's special sauce. On the side is a delicious and creamy Vegan Potato Salad:

High Noon does serve dairy cheese on request, so Paul had a grilled cheese with pepperjack. I'll spare y'all the non-vegan pic.

After lunch, we hit the road again and finished the last 3-hour leg of our 6-hour drive into New Orleans. Once we were settled into out hotel room, Bob from Book Publishing Company (my publisher), who was already in town for the fest, told me about dinner plans for Carmo, a very vegan-friendly restaurant on Julie Avenue in New Orleans.

Dinner was planned for 7:30 p.m., but Paul and I wanted to kill some time about an hour before dinner. But it was pouring rain! So we parked the car near Carmo, pulled out our umbrellas, and set out on foot in search of any little place to tuck into (a store, a bar, we didn't care).

After walking a few blocks past closed sign after closed sign on store windows, I spotted this sign! We knew a bar would be open at 6:30 p.m.

Inside, the place just adorable. Divey as can be with one long bar filled with what appeared to be regulars. This definitely wasn't a tourist bar. Perfect. Oh, and the drink special for Friday night was buy one, get one free bottled beer. Score. I ordered a local brew — LA-31 Bierre Pale. Tasty!

After our beers were empty, the rain had let up. So we walked without umbrellas back to Carmo. New Orleans is currently without a totally vegan restaurant (which seems crazy considering that Memphis has four now!). But places like Carmo are keeping vegans happy by offering lots of amazing cruelty-free options. I'd read great reviews online of Carmo's signature dish, The Rico, which can be ordered with pulled pork and cheese or vegan pulled pork and Daiya.

Of course, I had mine with the vegan pulled pork. These are two grilled plantain patties topped with vegan cheese, vegan meat, and avocado. It was unlike anything I'd had before, and it was just delightful.

There was so much on the menu that sounded fantastic. The special for the evening was a curry dish made with seitan. Carmo will be added to my must-do's for New Orleans trips!

Come back tomorrow for a Veggie Fest day one recap!