Vegan Pho + Quesadillas + Raw Girls Treats

HAPPY INAUGURATION DAY!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited and relieved! Okay, I know you're here for the food ...

A couple Saturday nights ago, Paul and I were planning to pick up some vegan pho from Pho Binh. I'd been thinking about it all week, and on my 17 mile run that morning, the thought of vegan pho kept me going. But when we tried to call and place an order that evening, we realized they were still closed for COVID. Apparently, the restaurant's matriarch was hospitalized with COVID, so they're closed until she recovers. Our thoughts are with them! We love the Pho Binh family!

Since Pho Binh is the only place in Midtown I know of that has vegan pho, we had two options: 1) eat something else or 2) make our own pho. We opted for #2! I went to the Viet Hoa grocery store and purchased some vegan pho broth base, fried tofu, rice noodles, bean sprouts, cilantro, and jalapenos and got to work. This Vegan Tofu Pho was fantastic! It wasn't quite as amazing as Pho Binh's pho but damn close. 

When we order Pho Binh, we always get their Tofu Spring Rolls from the app menu. So we had to make some of those too. I had rice paper wrappers in the pantry, but I picked up some vermacelli and satay sauce at the Viet Hoa. It's so nice living down the street from a Vietnamese grocery. My roll wrapping skills aren't great, but they tasted good. We stuffed these with rice noodles, fried tofu, and lettuce. We don't like Thai basil, so we left that out.

One of my favorite easy meals is a Black Bean & Sweet Potato Quesadilla! I made this one with mashed black beans, mashed sweet potato, a slice of vegan gouda, lettuce, tomato, and lots of guacamole salsa.

On Takeout Thursday last week, I treated myself to some Raw Girls. Earlier that day, I learned that my March 50K goal race has been postponed for the third time (THANKS COVID), so I was pretty bummed. I considered getting some greasy takeout and wine, but I'm trying to not eat my feelings. So I'll save that decadent stuff for a celebratory meal. Instead, I got this healthy Vegan Curry Dahl and a Merry Fabulous Juice (beet-orange-pineapple).

The Raw Girls soups come in quart-sized bags and contain enough for two meals, so I had a serving as a soup with a vegan grilled cheese one night, and the next night, I had the curry over some jasmine rice.