Grilled Tofu Wrap! Brown Rice Pudding! And More!

Yesterday, the cafe at Crosstown Arts was serving a Grilled Tofu Wrap with pickled okra, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. Any time they do grilled tofu, I'm all in!! Not sure what they do to it, but it's always amazing. Plus, pickled okra is MY FAVE.

Two years after the release of The No Meat Athlete Cookbook, it's still my very fave! I've made so many things from it that I've decided to set a goal to cook the whole book! I went through and checked off what I've made so far, and I'm about halfway there. This week, I've been enjoying the Slow Cooker Coconut Matcha Brown Rice for breakfast. 

This rice pudding is so simple! Just coconut milk, brown rice, and matcha tea powder cooked in the slow cooker overnight. Topped with coconut, cardamom, blueberries, maple, and pistachios.

I made another NMA Cookbook recipe last night for dinner. The Basic Dal is, well, basic. But sometimes that's what you need. This hearty bowl of yellow split peas and brown basmati rice was perfect after yoga. Topped with cilantro and lime juice.

I'm finally done with my July 4th leftovers! Earlier this week, I had the last Field Roast Burger with Daiya American Cheese on a Lulu's Baked bun with a side of Grilled Corn and Cucumber Salad. 

And another night, I had the last of the Veggie & Tofu Skewers (dumped into a pile on my plate) with Quinoa and Grilled Corn. 

Wholly Rollies Protein Balls

I'm always looking for new whole foods-based pre-workout snacks. I was on a Larabar kick for months, and I still love them, but I've had all the flavors so many times now that I'm getting bored with them. This review shipment of Wholly Rollies Protein Balls by Crazy Richard's couldn't have come at a better time.

These little frozen protein balls are made with just 5-6 ingredients! No added protein powders (not that I'm against that, but it's nice when the protein comes from whole foods). No added sweeteners (just natural dates!).

The PB & Cacao are my fave, and they're definitely more peanut buttery than chocolately. They're made from peanut butter, oats, dates, cacao nibs, and unsweetened toasted coconut. The nibs add a fun little crunch and burst of flavor.

The Cinnamon Oatmeal balls are made with peanut butter, oats, dates, golden raisins, flax, and organic cinnamon. And they taste like little peanut buttery oatmeal cookies. Isn't peanut butter the missing thing in all oatmeal cookies? PB belongs in EVERYTHING. There's also a PB & Strawberry flavor I'd love to try.

Each ball has 4 grams of protein, and I've been eating two before light workouts (runs of 3 miles or less) for 8 grams of protein and 12 grams of carbs.

One interesting thing about these: They recommend keeping them frozen so they hold their shape. I didn't read the instructions though and left them in my fridge for days. They still held their shape just fine! But then I moved them to the freezer when I finally noticed the package said to store them there. And I've found that I really love the texture of the frozen balls. You can eat them straight out of the freezer!

Fun & Food with Greg!

Yesterday, I blogged about how my bestie Greg was in town from Kentucky for the July 4 weekend. You can read about our grill-out and downtown fireworks excursion here. This post is dedicated to everything we ate last Friday and Saturday.

I took a vacation day from work on Friday so Greg and I could hang out (yay! 4-day weekend!). We slept in and then met up with our friend Stephanie at Pho Binh for Greg's very favorite thing to eat in Memphis — TOFU BUFFET! Here's my plate with Lemongrass Tofu, Green Bean Tofu, Black Bean Tofu, Curry Tofu Soup, and Cabbage Soup.

We were stuffed after lunch, and Greg had some work to do remotely, so we headed back home. He worked; I watched The Wire. Then, we had plans to meet up with our friends Vaughan and Nicole at the cafe at Crosstown Arts, where I work in communications and where Nicole used to work as the cafe manager. 

When Greg lived in Memphis, he lived in the Crosstown neighborhood (down the road from me), so I was excited to show him Crosstown Concourse. Concourse is a massive, mixed-use redevelopment project located in a formerly abandoned Sears headquarters — now home to arts, education, and healthcare orgs, as well as awesome vegan-friendly restaurants and some retail. I do communications for Concourse as well, and I'm very proud of this project. So I couldn't wait to show Greg! 

At the cafe, I ordered the daily Big Ass Salad to counter the effects of all that tofu earlier. This had romaine, pickled okra, tomato, fried kale, and green tomato dressing. That fried kale is my favorite thing! I ordered some fried chickpeas on the side and dumped them on the salad too.

After dinner, we enjoyed a drink with Vaughan and Nicole at Art Bar (the bar inside Crosstown Arts). Later that night, we caught an amateur drag show at Dru's Place, then a quick drink at The Pumping Station before calling it a night.

The next day, it was time to eat again! We met Megan at Imagine Vegan Cafe. Greg and Imagine owners Kristie and Adam go way back, so they were excited to see him! The special of the day was DONUT BURGERS!! Y'all know I had to get on that. Beyond Burger between two glazed doughnuts with special sauce. Mmmmmmmmm.

I was stuffed (yet again) after this meal, but by dinner time, my tummy growling again. I swear my metabolism is that of a 14-year-old boy. I can put away some food! Greg wasn't really hungry, but I convinced him to go on a picnic on Big River Crossing. That's the pedestrian/bike bridge that leads from Memphis to Arkansas over the Mississippi River. Btw, Greg is not unhappy here. He just never smiles in pictures. It's a thing. 

We had a ton of leftovers from grilling and other meals during the weekend, so we packed them for a Leftovers Picnic! Tofu & veggie skewers (July 4 leftovers), a yummy lemongrass tofu stir-fry (made with some tofu Greg picked up for grilling but didn't get used), teriyaki noodles (that Greg picked up otw to Memphis and never ate), cucumber salad (more July 4 leftovers), herb-garlic cashew cheese (picked up on clearance) and crackers, and vodka watermelon (also leftover).

We enjoyed our food (of course, mine is the loaded plate!) on a picnic table on the Arkansas side and then made the mile walk back to Memphis. Such a fun, food-filled weekend!! But I'm back on my whole foods regimen this week! 

Fourth of July with Greg!

Long-time Vegan Crunk readers may remember my best friend Greg. He and I were inseparable when he lived in Memphis, and I'm sure I'm blogged about him (and things we ate together) plenty, but he moved to Indiana (and later Kentucky) a few years back.

Our favorite holiday to celebrate was always Halloween! But the second fave was definitely July 4. Not because we're particularly patriotic. But we LOVE fireworks. And we LOVE grilling. So I was super stoked when Greg decided to use his vacation days to come visit me in Memphis for July 4th weekend. The above pic is one of us last Wednesday night at the Rec Room, right after he arrived in Memphis.

I'll be sharing our food adventures all week, but tonight, let's start with the big day — July 4th! Greg and I went shopping early in the day for grilling supplies, and we invited my friend Susan to join us. Then we fired up the grill and made all this!

Field Roast burgers (on Lulu's Baked buns), Beyond Sausages (Susan brought those! Mine is bunless to make room for more food in my belly), Corn on the Cob, Tofu & Veggie Skewers, and Cucumber Salad. Greg grew the cucumbers and zucchini in his garden! Skewers are a long-time July 4th tradition for me and Greg, but I haven't made them since he's been gone. Love these!

We also had plenty of beer, chips and guac, and watermelon (that we spiked with vodka, naturally!).

After dinner, we visited with Susan for a bit, and then she had to go home. But we met up with Andy and Tyler to go downtown for fireworks! Here's Andy photobombing us on a park bench in Butler Park, where we waited on the show.

The fireworks over the Mississippi River were especially awesome this year thanks to the new light show on the M Bridge! They change the colors for different holidays and themes, but this red, white, and blue one was very cool!

Vegan Jerk Chicken! Black Bean Bowl! Avo Toast!

Last Saturday, I went on a long bike ride that took me all over town. I started with a trip to the Cooper-Young Farmers Market, where I picked up one of Lulu's Baked Carrot Cake Muffins with Cashew Cream & Wine-Macerated Blackberries. Yes, it was as magical as it sounds. Perfect bike riding fuel!

From there, I rode back home to put up the hamburger buns I'd picked up from Lulu's. Then I biked downtown to the Big River Crossing bike/ped bridge that goes over the Mississippi River and into Arkansas. I'd planned to ride around Arkansas for a bit and head back, but the Arkansas side was closed off due to river flooding. So I turned around and headed back into Tennessee! 

Then I biked back to Cooper-Young to meet Megan and Pam for lunch at Imagine Vegan Cafe. I was famished by then, and everything sounded good. But I finally settled on the Jerk Chicken Sandwich (hoagie bun with sauteed vegan chicken, pineapple, and creamy jerk sauce). I had broccoli & vegan cheese on the side.

My all-time favorite cookbook is The No Meat Athlete Cookbook. It's the one book that I rely on more than any other. I'm slowly trying to cook my way through the whole book. Earlier this week, I made the Black Bean Pineapple Bowl with Roasted Veggies. This has a base of roasted sweet potatoes, topped with roasted pineapple, bell pepper, and onion, lime-spiced black beans, avocado-lime dressing, pepitas, and plantain chips. The chips were from a bag (Sprouts brand), but this would be especially good with some homemade fried plantains.

Speaking of No Meat Athlete, I also listen to their podcast every week. And host Matt Frazier often talks about his quick, kid-friendly go-to meal of Refried Bean Tostadas. I had some leftover refried beans that needed using, so I looked to see if his recipe was online. It was! I used this simple recipe to make these crispy baked tostadas stuffed with beans, vegan cheese, salsa, and onion, topped with tomato, lettuce, salsa, and avocado-lime dressing. On the side, I had some Spanish brown rice that I made.

And finally, here's some Avocado Toast! With local heirloom tomato from the CY Farmers Market and red onion. 

Hope y'all have a perfect 4th of July! I'll be taking the day of blogging to grill out and light fireworks with my friend Greg!

Hummus Bowl! Yogurt Bowl! BBQ Jackfruit!

We had our monthly Memphis Vegan Drinks meetup at Midtown Crossing Grill last week. They've got a new menu with some new vegan options, including the most amazing vegan cheese nachos. Most people ordered those, but I'd just tried them a couple weeks before, so I opted to try the new Hummus Platter. I was surprised to see it was served in a bowl bigger than my head!

Clearly, this platter of housemade hummus, flatbread (made with their perfect pizza dough), pickled eggplant, cucumber, kalamatas, and lettuce leaves is meant to be shared. But I ate the whole thing. All by myself. Looking back, I wish I'd saved some for snacks the next day. But I was hungry. Bonus: Our Vegan Drinks team — Nacho Party — won at Name That Tune trivia that night (thanks to Melissa and Anthony, who spend much of their free time winning at local trivia nights).

Here's a Cashewgurt Bowl from last week. With Forager vanilla cashew yogurt, maple dream granola, pecans, walnuts, pepitas, ground flax, fresh blueberries, and fresh raspberries.

Here's a very ugly picture of the Simplified Spinach Mushroom Lasagna from The No Meat Athlete Cookbook. I made this white bean, mushroom, and spinach lasagna (with cashew cheese!) last week since I had some leftover cooked lasagna noodles that needed to be used. But I've always struggled to plate lasagna in a way that doesn't look like a giant mushpile. Trust me, it tasted way better than it looks. This lasagna is my go-to whole foods-based recipe.  I usually make a giant batch and freeze some, but I made a half-batch this time and ate it all.

My friend Susan gave me a box of Upton's Naturals BBQ Jackfruit, which I used to make Jackfruit BBQ Tacos! With red cabbage slaw, yellow tomato, and avocado. Served with my simple Spanish Rice (I just cook brown rice with some veggie broth, diced tomato from a can, diced onion, cumin, salt, and chili powder).

The next night, I made BBQ Jackfruit Sandwiches with the leftovers. I used one of my Lulu's Baked handmade potato buns, and it was the most perfect sandwich. Don has really changed the vegan bun game with his potato buns. I stocked up on some at the CY Farmer's Market last week, so I have plenty in my freezer for 4th of July grilling!

15th Anniversary with Paul!

Paul and I celebrated 15 years together this weekend! Our actual anniversary is June 28, but Paul works in Nashville and couldn't be home until Saturday, the 29th. He arrived pretty late, but we still had enough time for a quick game of pool at Newby's, the bar where we met — over a game of pool — on beer bust night back in 2004. We celebrate at Newby's every year!

Paul's a sentimental guy, and he always makes us pose with the numbered ball for the number of years we've been together. Here we are with the 15 ball.

We stayed for a couple beers and then headed home for bed. On Sunday morning, we slept in, and then I made the BEST vegan pancakes we've ever had! I used this Tasty recipe, and they were so fluffy! I've struggled with flat pancakes for years, but this recipe makes super-fluffy ones. This will be my new go-to recipe.

I mixed chocolate chips and strawberries into my batter (just plain pancakes for Paul though) and topped mine with extra berries and vegan Reddi Whip. Simple Truth vegan sausage on the side. Plus, mimosas of course.

After pancakes, we did some yard work (very romantic, huh?). And then we headed downtown to take the Old Dominick Distillery tour. Old Dominick is a new-ish Memphis whiskey distillery, and we'd been wanting to go on the tour for awhile. We met the distillery cat, Waldo. He's a lover!

And at the end, we got to taste vodkas, whiskeys, a moonshine, and some not-on-the-market-yet gin.

We had dinner reservations for Seasons 52 at 6 pm. We've been going here for the past few years on our anniversary because they have great vegan options for me, and Paul can get his meat stuff.

The menu changes seasonally, but I was glad to see the Avocado Toast appetizer was still on the menu. We split this while we waited for our food. Also, while we waited, Paul gifted me a dainty diamond necklace that he had designed by a local jeweler. :-) He also had 15 roses sent to me at work on Friday. He's a good dude. Love him!

The vegan entree for summer is Roasted Vegetable Gnocchi, and OMG. This was AMAZING. Best meal I've ever had at Seasons 52 (and I've had some good ones!). I LOVE potato gnocchi.

After dinner, we enjoyed some drinks at home on our back patio with a fire going in the fire pit. A perfect 15-year anniversary celebration!