Bluff City Vegan Eats: Cooper Street 20/20

Sometimes there's just no time for cooking. And sometimes, there's really no time for waiting on takeout. It's times like these that you need a good grab-and-go shop. And Cooper Street 20/20 has busy, lazy, and just plain hungry vegans covered.

This Cooper-Young grab-and-go storefront offers vegan specials every week, plus a regular menu of vegan soups and hummus. Vegan items are clearly marked, and all ingredients used in each dish are listed on the label. Cooper Street 20/20 owner Kathy Katz offered me samples of this week's vegan specials to try.

My very favorite was this Stuffed Eggplant. Isn't it beautiful?

An eggplant half is hollowed and stuffed with a mixture of eggplant, squash, tomatoes, onions, and peppers. And that's topped with a very decorative swirl of mashed potatoes. Kathy cooks everything first and then packages it in an easily re-heatable package. This came in a small metal pie pan with instructions to bake for 20 minutes. By the way, those lovely crispy spots were already there when I picked this up. Beautiful! And it tastes like a shepherd's pie made with eggplant.

I also sampled Kathy's Chickpeas and Brown Rice.

These were Indian spiced with just a tad bit of heat and a generous amount of curry. I had these for lunch today, and since I'm easing out of my juice fast by trying to eat more wholesome solid foods (nevermind that peanut butter tart I had this afternoon ... that doesn't count), this meal made me feel really healthy. I had these with a side of sauteed kale that I made at home.

Finally, I tried the Veggie Pot Pie. Here's the whole thing.

And here's a slice.

I love that layered veggie look. Almost like a terrine. Layers of broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, and carrot are topped with a crunchy streusel crust. Amazing!

Now, one thing you should know is this Veggie Pie does contain honey. So if you're super-strict about honey, you won't want to get this. But the honey is listed on the label. I don't personally buy honey or honey-containing products in the grocery store, but I'm a little more lax when eating out.

Here's a picture of a label so you can see how it breaks every ingredient down. This is all wholesome stuff, folks.

Kathy will have these vegan specials tomorrow at the store (800 S. Cooper), and she'll also be at the Memphis Farmer's Market on Saturday morning with these specials (as well as her non-vegan specials). But when this week has come and gone, she'll have other vegan stuff to try! Plus, she generally always has quite a few regular vegan soups and other goods.

The following soups are vegan: Gazpacho, Tomato Basil, Greek Lentil, Curry Carrot, Russian Cabbage, Black Bean Chili, and African Peanut. There's always a variety of hummus: Traditional, Black Bean, Roasted Red Pepper. And perhaps best of all? Cooper Street 20/20 sells pints of homemade pickles!

Cooper Street 20/20 is located at 800 S. Cooper. Call 901-871-6879. They're open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.