Three Fold Noodle & Dumpling Co.

Yesterday, I posted about the epic vegan brunch at The Root Cafe that Sheridan and I had when I visited her in Little Rock, Arkansas this past weekend. That brunch happened on Sunday morning, but I spent the night in LR on Saturday so I could watch Sheridan's musical at the school where she teaches drama. I arrived in Little Rock around 4 p.m. on Saturday, about three hours before the show (and just in time for dinner).

So before I headed to the show, I stopped in at the vegan-friendly Three Fold Noodle & Dumpling Co. in downtown Little Rock. This place has been open for awhile, but somehow I've never made it there. But I'd heard Sher rave about it and read about it on Dana's Vanishing Veggie blog, so I was dying to try it!

The menu is really small, but everything looks amazing. They have steamed dumplings, steamed bun sandwiches, and noodle bowls, and there's a vegan option for each. Plus, there are a few sides (taro chips, sesame balls, and dairy-free bubble tea!).

I opted for the Dumpling Bowl with the tofu, shiitake, & seasonal veggie dumplings and medium-spiced chili sauce.

These were outrageous. Soft, warm, savory, and loaded with mushroom filling. The chili oil was only slightly spicy, and the green onions added just the right amount of flavor. I really waffled between getting the steamed bun or the dumplings, but I think I made the right choice for my first visit. I will definitely be back to try the bun later in the year.

For dessert, I had to choose between bubble tea or sesame balls. I LOVE bubble tea, but I can get dairy-free boba drinks in Memphis (even though I don't order them often enough). So I went with the Sesame Balls. These are deep-fried mochi balls stuffed with red bean paste. 

Mochi is pretty much my favorite, and then when you add deep-fried to the mix, well, that's a recipe for success. These were only lightly sweet and not too greasy. Plus, they were served warm. An order came with five. I bought a bag of them to go as I was walking out the door, so I had two in my car right away and saved the rest for later.

I can't wait to come back to Little Rock so I can try more food from Three Fold!

Three Fold is located at 215 Center Street in downtown Little Rock. Here's the website.

Epic Vegan Brunch at Little Rock's The Root Cafe!

This past weekend, my best friend Sheridan had her school drama teacher directorial debut in Little Rock. This is her first year teaching drama at a private school there, and they put on Seussical the Musical. She (and all of her students) have been working hard for months to put the show together, so I just had to drive down there on Saturday to watch the closing night show. It was awesome! So proud. Here's Sheridan and I!

Little Rock is about 2 1/2 hours away from Memphis, so I spend the night when I go down to visit. And we typically always wake up early on Sunday and brunch at The Root Cafe. I've written about this kitschy little shop before, but we had such an epic brunch this morning that I just have to share. The cafe isn't totally vegan, but they always have tofu scramble on the menu, and they usually offer some vegan specials.

Well, this morning, there was a line out the door to order food, so I grabbed a table on the patio and trusted Sheridan to pick out some delicious food for us. When she returned from ordering, she said, "I just ordered everything vegan on the menu." And a few minutes later, a server delivered plate after plate after plate. She ordered so much food!

For starters, Sheridan got us each our own plate of Tofu Scramble and Salad. The scramble is made with grilled peppers and onions, and it has hints of chili powder and turmeric. The salad dressing, a creamy (and vegan!) vinaigrette, is so wonderful, and they use local produce in the salad and scramble. You can also order the scramble banh mi-style, which is how we usually get it. So we mixed things up today with the regular scram.

They had Vegan Pancakes on special, so Sheridan got an order of those for us to split. You get three in an order, and they're served with Earth Balance and maple syrup. Look how fluffy these pancakes are!!! These are seriously the best vegan pancakes I've ever had. 

The Root Cafe makes their own Vegan Sausage using some sort of legumes (lentils maybe?) and grains. It's really yummy, and of course, Sher got a patty for us to split.

All of that would have been plenty of food for us both, but there was another vegan special that Sheridan just couldn't pass up — Vegan Shiitake on a Shingle! Sheridan LOVES gravy more than anyone ever. And my love for gravy runs pretty deep too. I'm so glad she ordered this because it was our favorite dish of the meal. Shiitake mushroom gravy over toast! We split this too, and I'm so glad we did.

Each of us consumed an order of scramble, a salad, one and a half fluffy pancakes, half a sausage patty, and a slice of toast covered in gravy. Needless to say, we were STUFFED. But we cleaned our plates!

My First Aquafaba Adventure!

If you're new to veganism or just veg-curious, you might be wondering what that weird A-word word in the headline is. Aquafaba is the latest amazing advancement in the world of vegan food science. Somehow, in late 2014, someone discovered that whipped chickpea brine makes a good egg substitute for baking and makes a mean frothy meringue. They called it "aquafaba" 'cause that's Latin for bean water.

Yep, bean water "eggs." That's the new thing. And while it sounds plum crazy, it's actually delicious. And I'd go so far as to call this discovery a vegan miracle. I'm a member of the Vegan Meringue Hits & Misses group on Facebook, and every day, people post wondrous pictures of all their aquafaba hits (meringue pies, pizza crusts, cookies, even French-style macarons) and misses (hey, it happens). Even though I've been following the board for awhile, I kept putting off trying aquafaba (from here on out, I'll just refer to it as AF) for myself until I found just the right recipe.

And then one day, a few weeks back, someone on the board mentioned AF marshmallow cream in the comments section. WHAT?! I used to love fluffernutter sandwiches, and I haven't seen vegan Ricemellow Creme for sale anywhere in years (do they still make that stuff?). So I googled and came across Fettle Vegan's Fluffernutter Sandwich recipe. I drained a can of chickpeas, added sugar, cream of tartar, and xantham gum, according to the recipe's instructions. And look what happened!

That's from 1/2 cup of chickpea brine! It made about four cups of the creamiest, dreamiest, fluffiest marshmallow cream!

I slapped it on a sandwich and let my childhood fluffernutter memories wash over me. Not only did this look like marshmallow cream, it also tasted like it!

Now that I've broken my AF seal, it's on! I can't wait to experiment with all kinds of recipes!

New So Delicious Cashewmilk Ice Cream Flavors!

When So Delicious introduced their line of cashewmilk ice creams (or non-dairy frozen desserts, as they call them) last year, the vegan world exploded with joy! Finally, a creamy, rich, thick ice cream that's soy-free and gluten-free. Nothing against soy or gluten, but you know, some folks have allergies so it's cool when a product is super-inclusive.

Plus, the creamy factor with these ice creams was off the charts. They introduced four flavors last year, and they were flying off the shelves. So much so that one flavor — the Salted Caramel Cluster — mysteriously disappeared in a lot of places when So Delicious couldn't keep up with demand. And that was my favorite flavor. Well, guess what? Salted Caramel Cluster is back! And it's joining three brand-new flavors — Creamy Chocolate, Chocolate Cookies 'n' Cream, and Very Vanilla.

So Delicious sent me all four flavors to review, so I've done the tough work of tasting them all. And I'm here to tell you these flavors are just as amazing as the round introduced last year. Maybe even better! 

My fave of the bunch was Chocolate Cookies 'n' Cream, because I'm a sucker for ice cream with chunks. And who doesn't love chocolate sandwich cookies? The chocolate ice cream base is rich and creamy with a milk chocolate flavor. It's absolutely loaded with cookie bits!

The Creamy Chocolate seems like it has the exact same base as the cookies 'n' cream, but it's just solid chocolate throughout. And it really has that classic chocolate ice cream flavor. When So Delicious first introduced the cashewmilk ice creams last year, they brought out a Dark Chocolate Truffle flavor that was probably my least fave of the bunch. Good but a little too bitter dark for me, and it wasn't as creamy as the others. But this new chocolate is more my speed. It's sweeter and creamier and more like the chocolate ice cream of my childhood, whereas the dark chocolate ice cream is probably meant for a more sophisticated palette than mine.

Very Vanilla was a much-needed flavor. The original line-up of cashewmilk ice creams included a Creamy Cashew flavor that was close to vanilla, but it had more of a cashew flavor. That was (and remains) a fantastic flavor, but I think So Delicious needed a classic vanilla, too. I enjoyed a scoop of this with a slice of vegan lemon pound cake (baked by my co-worker Susan). I warmed the cake up in the microwave a bit, so the ice cream would get all melty.

Finally, I was sooooo excited to get my hands on Salted Caramel Cluster again! It might just be my batch, but it did seem slightly different than what I remember. The creamy vanilla base was the same, and there's still a generous ribbon of caramel. But I remember the cashews being chocolate-covered. Now, there are chocolate chunks and salted cashews (not chocolate covered) peppered throughout. Either way, it tastes the same, whether or not the chocolate is coating the cashews or just mixed into the ice cream. In fact, I think there may be more chocolate and cashews in this new incarnation. It's definitely still my fave of all the cashewmilk ice creams!

Stuff I Ate

I don't what's gotten into me, but I've been eating out A LOT lately. I think I dined out every night last week, and I've barely cooked anything at all. So lots of random meals to share tonight. I'll start with the amazing Chubby Vegetarian Mushroom Debris (a mushroom po'boy named after my friend/co-worker Justin's blog, the Chubby Vegetarian) at Second Line.

The Second Line is a casual Creole-inspired cafe with a meat-heavy menu, but they have this one sandwich that's vegan as long as you ask them to leave off the mayo. It has boozy mushrooms, and the soft bread is all soaked in gravy. Delicious. (Btw, I can't say for sure if the bread is vegan, but I assume it is. I have a general rule about not asking too many questions about bread. I'd rather just not know).

I went to Second Line at lunch and got the half-sandwich/fries combo. They have some fantastic fries. I ate all of these. And all of my sandwich.

I know I say a lot of things are my favorite thing, but I swear I mean it this time. Last week, I had THE BEST meal I've ever had in a Memphis restaurant. Seriously. I was working out east, so I was close to Cosmic Coconut — a vegan juice/smoothie shop with a small lunch menu — at lunch time. I popped in to grab a bite, and they were offering a Buffalo Cauliflower & Tempeh Wrap with Cashew Ranch on special. OMG. So good! So, so, so very good. The kale really took this grilled wrap to the next level, and that ranch — I could have drunk a gallon of that.

We had our monthly Vegan Drinks meet-up at Robata Ramen & Yakitori Bar last Tuesday. I had the Rice Noodle Ramen with Yasai Broth, Tofu, & Corn. Pretty solid, although the broth wasn't as flavorful as it has been on past visits.

I always order the Garlic Yakitori at Robata because it's awesome. Grilled garlic on a stick. 

I went to Pink Diva Cupcakery for lunch today and got the BBQ Tofu with Vegan Mac & Cheese and Avocado-Kale Salad. You get to pick two sides with the BBQ Tofu entree, and I always get these two. It's such a perfect combo and so colorful. 

Last Sunday at brunch at Imagine Vegan Cafe, I went with an old stand-by — the Reuben Sandwich with Garlic Kale. Seitan pastrami, kraut, housemade Thousand Island, and housemade white cheeze sauce.

Finally made it to the new Midtown Casablanca location last week. Casablanca is a locally owned chain of Middle Eastern eateries, and my area of town just got one. I went light with a Mezze Platter — falafel, baba ganoush, and hummus served with warm pita. Casablanca is famous for having the best baba ganoush in town.

Last Friday night, I had the best time dining with my new friends Jennifer and Simon. We went to Blue Nile Ethiopian Kitchen and got a family-style Vegetarian Platter and dug in. Nothing beats eating delicious food scooped up with soft and spongey injera bread.

I did eat at home one night last week! I made a salad with chopped Boca chick'n, lots of veggies, and Drew's Roasted Red Pepper Dressing. Carrot "tuna" salad (made from carrot juice pulp) on the side.

And this morning, I had some Avocado Toast with nooch, hemp seeds, and Yellowbird Sauce!

Love & Lemons Cookbook!

I'll admit that I hadn't heard about the Love & Lemons blog before I was contacted about reviewing blogger Jeanine Donofrio's new cookbook by the same name, but I've since become a new fan. It's not an entirely vegan blog — she uses cheese and eggs — but many of her recipes just so happen to be vegan. And of course, swapping out subs for cheese and eggs is a breeze these days with all the awesome vegan products on the market. Plus, on the blog and in the cookbook, Donofrio typically provides a vegan option for the non-vegan recipes.

The gorgeous hardcover Love & Lemons Cookbook mimics the clean, crisp style of Donofrio's blog — lots of white marble table backdrops, tan or blue pin-striped kitchen towels, wooden spoons, cast-iron skillets, bright white plates, and highly stylized images shot from above. And the food is fresh, and vegetable-heavy, relying on seasonal and local produce.

The chapters of the cookbook are organized by vegetable or fruit, which will be pretty awesome during farmer's market season. I often go to the market with a list and come home with a few extra fun things that I've no idea what to do with. Using the Love & Lemons Cookbook, I could just flip to the mushrooms chapter or the corn chapter or the brussels sprouts chapter.

That's how I decided to make the Kale Salad with Roasted Root Veggies first. My office was having a cookout, and I wanted to bring a side dish. I had a sweet potato that needed using, so I flipped to the root veggies chapter. This salad — loaded with roasted sweet potato, turnip, radish, sunflower seeds, onions, and chickpeas — was perfect for a cookout! My (mostly non-vegetarian) co-workers gobbled it up!

Last weekend, I went to a tea party, and we were supposed to bring dishes that related to the elements — earth, air, fire, and water. You could be creative in your interpretation of that, of course. I figured cucumbers would fall into the water category, so I flipped to the cucumber chapter and found this Cold Sesame Cucumber Noodles salad. 

Soba noodles, sesame, peanut butter sauce, and spiralized cucumbers. There was a list of suggested add-ins, and from that I picked snap peas, radishes, and edamame since I had those on hand. Again, this was a hit! And again, it was a non-veg crowd. I think non-vegans are most impressed with veggie dishes over plant meat stuff. While I would prefer some greasy deep-fried plant meats or cheezy vegan casseroles at a potluck, when I'm cooking for non-vegans, I stick to veggies. It's common ground.

Also for that event, I made the Sweet Potato Hummus from Love & Lemons to represent earth. Because, you know, sweet potatoes grow in the earth.

This is a creamy hummus with a hint of sweetness from both baked, mashed sweet potato and maple syrup. It was a hit too! I especially love the back of Love & Lemons Cookbook, where the author has some cool build-your-own charts with different ingredient combos for making hummus, smoothies, pesto, salsa, and guacamole. That's where this recipe came from.

The farmer's market season is just kicking off here, and I can't wait to bring home random veggies and pick out recipes from this book! The Loaded Sweet Potato Nachos, Vegan Carrot Cake Waffles, Crispy Shiitake BLT, and Swiss Chard & White Bean Tacos are calling my name.

Memphis Vegan Food Trucks: El Mero Taco

It's hard to believe that just a few years ago, food trucks were illegal in Memphis! But it's only been since 2011, when the Memphis City Council passed an ordinance allowing mobile food vendors, that food trucks have even been a thing here. Now, there are food trucks EVERYWHERE! And surprisingly, many offer vegan options. 

I was just turned onto El Mero Taco, a taco truck with vegan options. My friend Ranise works on the truck, and she gave me a heads-up that they were offering a seitan taco special tonight. And it just so happened that they were conveniently parked just down the street from my house. It was a lovely, warm spring day, so I walked over to check them out.

The owner told me they were testing out the seitan taco, and that they hope to have it regularly. He also said they typically always have some kind of vegetable-based vegetarian taco that can easily be made vegan by leaving off the cheese. For instance, tonight, they had a sweet potato taco with queso fresco that could have been veganized. He said they recently offered a roasted brussels sprouts taco (yum!!). But I really wanted to try the seitan!

I ordered two Seitan Tacos, which were generously stuffed with cubed, sauteed seitan coated in chimichurri sauce, a tangy lime slaw, tomatoes, and homemade pickled jalapenos. 

Here's a closer look at the seitan.

These were AMAZING! Each taco was loaded with seitan, so they were hearty and filling. The chimichurri sauce added an awesome flavor, and those pickled jalapenos really brought everything together. They had some salsa and limes at the counter, but I forgot to add any. Luckily, I brought these home to eat and added some salsa from my fridge (and of course, I added Yellowbird sauce!). My jarred salsa probably wasn't as good as theirs, but the tacos were so good, it didn't even matter.