Big Cheesy Post

I've tried some new fun vegan cheeses lately, and I've been saving them all for one big cheesy post.

A few weeks ago, my daddy ordered me some Punk Rawk Labs Nut Milk Cheese from Vegan Essentials. I'd been reading the praises about Punk Rawk Labs cheese in VegNews Magazine for months and was dying to try it. He ordered the Smoked Cashew Mac and the Herb Cashew Mac:

 They're like little tiny presents inside!

Both cheeses are totally raw and made from a blend of cashews and macadamia nuts. They have that aged cheese flavor that you get from using rejuvelac. These are the sort of fancy cheeses you'd serve with some good vegan wine at a dinner party.

I loved the Herb flavor most! It had a tangy, Italian taste:

But the Smoked was coated in course black pepper. I love anything coated in pepper:

I think these cheeses are best enjoyed spread on a fancy cracker. I ate most of mine on Engine 2 Crispbreads, but I did try a schmear or two on some sandwiches:

In that same order from Vegan Essentials, my daddy also ordered me a jar of Victoria Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo Sauce:

I'd also been reading about these sauces in VegNews. Victoria Vegan is a new line of vegan cream-based pasta sauces. There are four flavors, but the roasted red pepper sounded the best to me. I tried it on some whole wheat linguini:

Wow!! I've made plenty of vegan alfredo recipes, and all have been pretty darn tasty. But this stuff? World's better than anything I've ever made from scratch. It tastes like real dairy alfredo with a roasted red pepper kick. It's made with cashew cream, peppers, tomato paste, garlic, pepper, and herbs.

I also recently ordered some Heidi Ho Veganics Chia Cheeze Sauce from Vegan Cuts:

I got three jars (one was already half gone when I snapped this picture) for $18. I'd tried some Heidi Ho block cheeses in Portland during Vida Vegan Con in 2011, and I loved them. So I was excited to try their latest cheese product.

I've never met a jarred vegan sauce that I didn't love (Food for Lovers queso, Nacho Mom's, and Nacheez, I'm talkin' to you!). But this one has a very different ingredient list from the others. The main ingredients are potatoes, carrots, onions, chia seeds, and cashews. Who knew potatoes and carrots could taste like cheese?

But guess what? They do! This stuff is delicious. The chia seeds make the sauce very thick, and the flavor is reminiscent of some cheese sauce I remember from childhood. But I can't put my finger what sauce that is.

The Chia Cheeze is the perfect topping for loaded baked potatoes with Tofutti sour cream, Earth Balance, chives, and bacon bits:

Next up: I plan to try it with nachos! And then maybe cheese fries!

Bluff City Vegan Eats: Chiwawa

I have a vegan hot dog named after me! I've always dreamed about seeing my name on a menu item, and now my dreams have come true. And a hot dog, no less. As the daughter of a hot dog addict, I know my mama couldn't be more proud.

Let me explain. A few weeks ago, Memphis restauranteur Taylor Berger messaged me for vegan hot dog suggestions to serve at Chiwawa, his new Midtown eatery with a focus on hot dogs, authentic Mexican fare (no cheddar and no sour cream), and fascinating ways to serve tequila and whiskey (more on that in a few). I gave him some ideas, and he asked "Can we call it the Bianca Dawg?" I thought he was kidding.

And then Chiwawa had its grand opening last Friday. My editor went there for lunch, and he sent me this picture. Check out the Bianca Dawg at the bottom!

I could barely contain my excitement, but I managed to wait until Saturday after the St. Paddy's parade to stop in and order my own Bianca Dawg. It was so fun telling the waitress, "So I'm gonna have the Bianca Dawg 'cause that's me!"

It's a grilled Tofurky brat served on a flour tortilla with sweet 'n' tangy mustard-based Slaw Chiwawa. You know, I'd never have thought to roll a brat up into a tortilla, but it's genius. Less calories than a big ole bun. Plus, eating a hot dog in a tortilla makes you feel like a big kid!

Items at Chiwawa are served a la carte, so our table ordered a plate of Papas Fritas to share. Warning to vegans: Be sure and request the papas with no cheese. They arrived with some sort of crumbly white cheese on top, but our waitress was super nice and immediately whisked them away and replaced them with fresh, hot cheese-free fries. They were served with a yummy Memphis-style BBQ sauce for dippin':

The Bianca Dawg isn't the only veg item on the menu. My friend Greg, who couldn't bring himself to order something with my name on it (I have the nicest friends ... rolling eyes), ordered this mushroom taco with avocado and veggies. I wish I knew what it was called on the menu, but I can't remember. He said it was delicious!

Besides combining hot dogs and Mexican food (my mama's two favorite cuisines in the world, btw), Chiwawa has the added bonus of being a fine purveyor of fancy cocktails made with tequila and whiskey.

For now, you can get perfectly mixed margaritas and other cocktails. But come summer, Chiwawa will be serving up tequila snowcones and whiskey popsicles on its spacious patio. I am counting down the days.

Chiwawa is located at 2059 Madison Ave. Call 901-207-1456.

Irish Eats

I'm a sucker for a holiday. I get it from my Me-maw, who lovingly decorates every inch of her home for just about every holiday on the calendar. I haven't taken things that far yet, but as I get older, I suspect I'll also be adding holiday-themed area rugs and knick-knacks to my home decor.

Until then, I'll celebrate holidays the best way I know how. With food!! Since St. Patrick's Day fell on a Sunday this year, we celebrated all weekend in Memphis. Our annual St. Pat's Day parade along Beale Street was on Saturday afternoon. I threw on a green shirt and spiked my morning coffee with a little Jameson before heading downtown. Look at these cute vintage Irish Coffee mugs that I found in a flea market for $5 a piece:

I looked around on Etsy and found a very similar set of four mugs for $32. I got a sweet deal on mine! But they're not very authentic. Look where they're made!

My friends and I did a Rainbow Pub Crawl to all the gay bars after the parade. We did stop for a food at a new restaurant, but I'm saving that for tomorrow's review post (Hint: It definitely wasn't Irish. Think more like Mexican hot dogs).

On Sunday, my food was a little more St. Pat's-appropriate. For lunch, I made the Irish Stew with Potatoes and Seitan from Appetite for Reduction:

I bookmarked this recipe when I first got Isa's low-cal cookbook years ago, but I've finally gotten around to trying it. And wow. Just wow! It's such a hearty meat-and-potatoes stew, and in true St. Patrick's Day fashion, the broth is seasoned with beer. I used a good dark stout.

I also made a loaf of Irish Soda Bread from Celebrate Vegan:

Another wow! I've never had soda bread, but it's so flavorful. It only has a few ingredients — baking soda, wheat flour, plant milk, sugar, and agave. But the wheat flour makes the bread taste so earthy and wholesome. This was the perfect side to the Irish stew.

For dinner, Imagine Vegan Cafe hosted a St. Patrick's Day Breakfast Buffet called "Green 'Eggs' and Slam," named for the Dr. Seuss book and Imagine's locally famous Memphis Slam breakfast plate of biscuits, tofu scramble, gravy, and vegan cheese.

I went a little crazy at the buffet. I have ZERO self-control in all-you-can-eat situations. First, I had this plate with dyed green Tofu Scramble, Biscuits and Vegan Sausage Gravy, Vegan Sausage, Home Fries, a Crescent Roll Stuffed with Sausage, and a Mini Pancake with Maple Syrup:

Then I had these two mini cupcakes — Caramel Dipped Vanilla Buttercream and Lavender Vanilla:

And then they put out grits and hash brown patties. So I got another plate (not pictured). They also put out some fruit, but who wants fruit when there are hash browns to be had? And then they sliced into the Chocolate Stout Sheet Cake. And I had to get a slice of that too:

Oh, and they had green beer. So I had a few cups of that:

That was about two hours ago and I still can't move. I had to change out of my jeans and into some fat pants for the night. Ugh. I don't regret it though. St. Patrick's Day only comes but once a year.

Burgers for Breakfast

I love burgers. Back when I was just a baby vegetarian trying to survive in my small Arkansas hometown, I lived on veggie burgers. This was the 90s, and while vegetarianism was popular then in major cities, it was still a foreign concept in Jonesboro, Arkansas. We didn't even know what "vegan" meant.

But the Kroger in my hometown eventually started carrying Morningstar Farms products, so at least I had veggie burgers (they weren't vegan burgers, but that was okay then). When I got to college (also in my hometown), our cafeteria served veggie burgers. That was one of the few veg options, besides cheese pizza and the salad bar. You'd think that after years and years of burger patties, I'd be sick of them.

But no. I'm sick of Morningstar and Boca, oh yes. But fun, different burgers? No way! One of the best things about being vegan is burger diversity. Omnis, they have, um, what like 2 burger options (beef or turkey). But vegans, we're a creative bunch. We make our own burgers out of all kinds of stuff.

Take for example these Denver Omelet Burgers from The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet by Joni Marie Newman:

That, my friends, is a breakfast burger. It's a tofu omelet patty with sauteed peppers and onions, seitan "ham," and homemade TVP bacon bits stirred in. And it's served on an Ezekial sprouted grain English muffin with salsa. Here's an inside shot:

Yep, it's pretty much genius. But everything from the fabulous Ms Newman is astounding, so no surprise there. If I'd have known I'd be eating these kinds of burgers 18 years after giving up meat, I'd have been that much more confident that I'd made best decision of my life back in 1994 when I swore off meat forever.

Two Energy Bar Recipes!

As promised a few weeks ago, I plan to share my homemade energy bar recipes as I create them. Every couple of weeks, I concoct a new batch of energy bars to eat before my morning runs and weight training sessions. I use a graph from the Thrive Forward website to pair fruits, nuts, seeds, carbs, and protein in balanced combinations.

After my Thrive cleanse in January, I decided to abandon my usual storebought energy bars for homemade, healthier bars. So many bars that you buy are loaded with sugar and additives, plus most tend to be higher in protein. From what I've learned, protein is better for post-workout while easy-to-digest simple carbs, like fruit, are better for pre-workout snacking. These homemade bars have some protein, but there's more focus on simple carbs (like dates!).

I have two recipes to share tonight. Both bars look pretty similar, but I assure you that they taste very different. Also, they both look a little like poop. But I swear they're delicious. Dates are the main ingredient, and let's face it, dates are not very sexy.

The first bar is a Matcha Green Tea Almond Bar. It's my favorite of the two. It has the same chewy texture as a Larabar, and it has that tannic green tea taste. The other bar is a Pear Flax Cinnamon Bar. It's softer than the green tea bar, but it has a sweeter cinnamon pear flavor.

Matcha Green Tea Almond Bar
Yields 12 bars
117 calories each


1 1/2 cups chopped dates
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/3 cup whole raw almonds
1/4 cup matcha green tea powder

Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Process until the mixture gets sticky and starts to ball up. Turn the mixture out onto a cutting board and shape into a square. Cut the bars into 12 equal-sized pieces. Individually wrap each bar in plastic wrap. Store in the fridge.

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Pear Flax Cinnamon Bar
Makes 8 bars
132 calories each

1 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup diced pear
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 cup powdered hemp protein
1/4 cup whole flax seed
2 tsp. cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Process until the mixture gets sticky and starts to ball up. Turn the mixture out onto a cutting board and shape into a square. Cut the bars into 8 equal-sized pieces. Individually wrap each bar in plastic wrap. Store in the fridge.

Bluff City Vegan Eats: Rock 'n' Dough Pizza Co.

Years ago, when I first went vegan and the only cheese on the market was Vegan Rella, I would have never imagined that in 2013, I could go to four — count 'em — four restaurants in Memphis and order a vegan cheese pizza.

But fast forward to now, and that's exactly what I can do. Any night of the week! Memphis may not be Portland, but it's not too shabby in the vegan eats department. We've had four places that offer vegan cheese pizzas for some time, but just as one of those closed recently (R.I.P. Hi-Tone Cafe), another vegan-friendly door opened — Rock 'n' Dough Pizza Co.

This teensy little pizza joint in East Memphis only has about six tables, and as you can probably tell by the name, pizza is pretty much all they do. When I heard they had vegan pizza, I immediately made plans. And this past weekend, I finally tried the Vegan Pie:

Isn't it gorgeous? This is a small, mind you. There are eight huge slices, which made four meals for me.

Atop the perfect crispy, chewy, buttery crust is a vegan white sauce, Daiya cheese, zucchini, roasted bell peppers, spinach, and kalamata olives. Probably all of my favorite toppings on one lovely pie. I really enjoy a good vegan white sauce over marinara most of the time.

My only complaint is there just wasn't enough Daiya for me. I like a cheesy pizza, so next time, I plan to request extra vegan cheese ... even if that costs a little more. I know some vegans who would rather let the flavor of veggies shine through, and they'd probably prefer less Daiya. But y'all know me. I would live on carbs and vegan cheese alone if that was healthy. 

Also, you can build your own pie using vegan cheese and a huge list of veggie options. 

Since the place is tiny, I'd recommend checking them out during non-peak meal times or picking up a pie to go.

(In case you're wondering about those other three places to get a vegan cheese pizza in Memphis, that would be Imagine Vegan Cafe, Trolley Stop Market, and Mellow Mushroom).

Rock 'n' Dough Pizza Co. is located at 1243 Ridgeway Rd. Call (901) 435-6238.

Indian Brinner

I can't remember when I first tried vada, spicy Indian lentil doughnuts. I think it may have been at an Indian restaurant in Nashville several years ago. But I do remember being in love with these savory fritters from the very first bite.

For one, they're shaped like doughnuts. And doughnuts are magical. But they have that lentil/gram flour flavor so common in South Indian food. And that flavor is also magical. I've made them from scratch before, but as much as I love fried food, I don't always feel like dragging out the deep fryer. So when I spotted these frozen vada in the Mediterranean Grocery on Park, I just had to have them!

Vada are typically served with some kind of dipping sauce, like a chutney or sambar (a soup made from dal and veggies). The Mediterranean Grocery did have frozen sambar from the same brand. But it looked like a small one-serving package. I wanted more than that. I knew just what cookbook to turn to for a homemade Spicy Sambar recipe — The Lotus & the Artichoke by Justin P. Moore!

Justin's Spicy Sambar has been on my to-make list since he gifted me the book. It's loaded with toor dal (yellow pigeon peas), potatoes, carrots, chiles, peas, tamarind, tomatoes, onion, and lots of Indian spices (garam masala, coriander, cumin, and asafoetida).

Delicious! This homemade version has way more veggies than any sambar I've ever had at an Indian restaurant. But I like it that way. It's almost like a vegetable soup with Indian spices. And that toor dal (kind of like red lentils) really lends the sambar that classic flavor that I associate with the soup.

I didn't realize this until I started researching sambar with vada for this post, but the combo is a popular South Indian breakfast staple! I prefer my breakfasts savory and all, but I'd never think to eat something like this in the morning. It seems a better fit for dinner, so let's just say I had Indian brinner.