Big Vegan Flavor - A Cookbook Review

I am no more qualified to review cookbooks than I am to review restaurants. If it counts for anything, I've had a pretty impressive collection of cookbooks at times over the years (not so much anymore as that is what the internet is for) and made good use of them.  These days I happen to think that publicizing the fact that there are vegan cookbooks and vegan eats out there and available is important.

Nishi Vora's YouTube channel is called, Rainbow Plant Life. We have been watching it for a while and often try her recipes, sometimes posting the results on Instagram. Her enthusiasm for plant-based eating and vegan living is infectious. She is creative and efficient in her use of make ahead sauces and other components for weekly planning and we employ some of her shortcuts regularly. We enjoy that she is humorous and humble enough to post outtakes. So when she announced that she was working on a cookbook (not her first), I decided to preorder it. It's a beautiful book with photographs that are far more impressive than mine and if it was to sit on your coffee table and do nothing more. It would be worth having.

When I picked up the book, the first thing I did was look for recipes to make. Of course I was drawn to the tastiest looking pictures but I also looked for easy recipes, being a little on the lazy side. Big Vegan Flavour is inclined towards more involved preparations. Not necessarily complicated techniques but more ingredients and the use of building block sauce and spice recipes and so on. At first it annoyed me somewhat but when I tackled the recipes, they turned out to be well worth it. The Cheesy Herb Bread Pudding with Caramelized Leeks (photo above) is an example of a simpler recipe that came with amazing results. Not all the recipes are complicated, It was only my first impression.

I made a couple of desserts including the Caramelized Stone Fruit Crisp with Tahini Custard. It was delicious and reminded me of one of my favourite childhood treats but with the brilliant tahini custard twist. Caramelized ingredients in both of these photos notwithstanding, texture is a feature of many of the recipes that the author pays attention to.

For example, I would never have imagined the word crispy applying to beans and pulses but the Crispy Indian-ish Lentils with Rice and Yogurt (photo above) had a wonderful unexpected texture to go with familiar-ish flavours.

There are 4 "odes" in the cookbook referencing important and useful vegan ingredients for which the author has special respect or even a childhood connection. One of these odes is to tempeh, a fermented soy  product that was being used in Indonesian cuisine long before it was cool to be vegan (Oh. It is cool!). The Sweet and Sour Tempeh Stir-Fry (photo above) is one of the results of special attention to a wonderful ingredient that we should all use more often! The other odes are to tofu, lentils and mushrooms.

Further, the book is divided into 3 parts: Mastering Vegan Cooking, The Building Block Recipes and Wow-Worthy Meals. Each of those parts is divided into a total of 13 chapters. Some of those chapters focus on a technique, an ingredient or a meal. The Customizable Grain Salad with Garlicky Spiced Oil & Fresh Herbs (photo above) is an example from Chapter 7, The Grains. In this chapter not only do we get familiar with some grains that we may rarely have used but use the familiar grains in creative ways. I used faro in the salad above but you can easily switch out for any other grain. Each recipe has handy notes about the ingredients, variations, do ahead steps and so on. Even as I write this, I realize how this cookbook is useful for anyone from new to experienced vegan cook or anyone else who wants to expand their repertoire with delicious, healthy, animal and earth friendly recipes.

You will not find recipes here using the commercially available faux meats. I don't personally have anything against Beyond and Impossible products (for example) and I don't know if the author does either but we don't really need recipes for those things. The substantial recipes you will find here make use of the whole foods that when prepared creatively such as My Favourite Dal Tadka (photo above) a wonderful lentil dish, will leave you satisfied and missing nothing!

At this point, I have barely scratched the surface and i have kind of bounced around in the book as opposed to reading it in an orderly fashion which is what I would recommend to a serious home cook. The 3 parts are organized in such a ways as to provide the basic knowledge for the following parts. I know its too late for Christmas but if you got a book store gift card, you could do worse than add this to your collection. 

Yummy Slice Pizza - Vegan Options

I declared some time ago that we would no longer chase all over the Valley seeking out plant-based pizza because so many places have it now. If the plant-based pizza comes to us, that is a different matter. Yummy Slice Pizza just opened in Aldergrove and as they have recently added plant-based items to their menu, we are happy to give them a try. 

Located right on Fraser Hwy in the middle of town and in the brightest yellow building in town, they are hard to miss. We ordered all 3 of their plant-based offerings in medium size.

First up was the Veggie Delight, a basic plant based pizza with vegan mozza as well as peppers, tomatoes, red onions and pineapple, all on tomatoe sauce. Just a decent unexciting vegan option available at a reaonable price.

The Plant-Based Meat Lovers is not ironically named if you like plant based meat. This one comes with double pepperoni and double sausage and was actually pretty tasty and might even appeal to the dead animal meat loving people. Just don't tell them and they probably won't know. 

Finally, there was the Plant-Based Supreme. This was a combination of the pepperoni, sausage, peppers, onions, mozza and tomatoe sauce along with mushrooms. Another decent pie at a reasonable price. The only thing for me was that the pizza crust  here was not remarkable. Mharie found it ok but to me it was a bit to biscuit/dinner rollish. I assume that all their pizzas use the same crust, vegan or not, and the company is thriving so I might be the only one with a problem.

When we placed our order, the woman on the phone let us know that they could make 2 of the pizzas a combo with Cheese bread (plant-based, of course) so that was nice. 

At Yummy Slice, you can walk in and get a couple of slices and a drink but I don't suppose that they would have plant-based ready to go. That's why we ordered whole pies in advance. There is a small seating area if you want to consume your pizza right away.

So we're happy that there is another vegan pizza option in Aldergrove and Yummy Slice is all over the place.

Food                      3 out of 5

Vegan Options       3 out of 5

Comfort                 3 out of 5

Service                  4 out of 5

Value                     4 out of 5

Sprouted Oven - Vegan Cafe and Grocery

We have been to the Sprouted Oven in the past (search on the web version of our blog) and enjoyed their plant-based eats including baked goods. This time we were motivated by our This is Plant Curious membership to return and try a few more things. The first time we showed up on a Saturday and were momentarily confused to find them closed! Then we remembered the management here are 7th Day Adventists. If you have seen the Netfllix documentary Blue Zones, you likely recognize that Loma Linda, California, one of said blue zones, is populated largely by 7th Day Adventists! And why do they tend to live long? It is because they follow a largely plant-based diet among other things. How about that? 

I have known about the 7th Day Adventist health thing since the early 80s when I read the book, Diet For A Small Planet. The 7DA were known for lower levels of colon and other cancers due to their avoiding meat. Makes it seem like a good idea, doesn't it? Anyway, here we are on a Sunday, just off Hwy1 at the McCallum exit, in Abbotsford. This place is located in the mall next to Cabella's (now Bass Pro Shop maybe?).

So we ordered a couple of pizzas since This Is Plant Curious (and Sprouted Oven) offered pies at $11! We tried the Hawaiin Chick'n since my wife as you may know likes pineapple on a pizza (a surprising number of people do even though it is inherently evil). Still, it was quite a good pizza. We like the crust they do here which ends up just nicely chewy with a bit of char on the bottom. The toppings include chicken which we are thinking are Butler's Soy Curls (it doesn't matter as long as it is not dead bird) with some decent cheese, barbeques sauce, pineapple, red onion and vegan ranch.

We also ordered the Barbeque Jack which was of course, jack fruit. Along with that, a house made garlic aioli, red onion, marinated kale on the same tasty pie crust. Both pretty good pizzas which I very possibly have confused the photos of, one for the other.

They have more than pizza on their savoury menu. There are bagels, sandwiches and a burger or two. They also have a menu of smoothies and lattes (although I don't think they contain caffeine. I don't think 7DA drink alcohol or coffee) We are suckers for items from their bakery though. We brought home a great Almond Croissant, a Cinnamon Bun, a big tasty cookie and a bar which I think was a berry chocolate chip concoction. You can't go wrong with their baked goods including breads and muffins etc.

There is a nice area which is bright and high ceilinged where you can consume your comestibles.

There is also a grocery section with some harder to get plant-based items (we bought some Butler's Soy Curls) most of which are reasonably priced. 

This is one of the few fully pant-based places in the Valley and deserves to be supported not only for their very good food but because they are making it easier for people in the area to live an animal cruelty free life. 

Food                      4 1/2 out of 5

Vegan Options       5 out of 5

Comfort                 4 out of 5

Service                  5 out of 5

Value                     4 11/2 out of 5

                                                                          

Downtown Dosas - Vegan Options

I eyed this place when emerging from Burrard Station some time ago and have intended to try their food. I thought I had it worked out but on a Sunday and they don't work Sunday. No problem, we showed up on a Saturday when we were staying in town and so actually had a warm place to eat, a short walk away.

We genuinely love dosa. It is one of the great underrated foods on the planet and is usually plant-based (at least the pancake if not the filling). At Downtown Dosa, they specify which dishes are plant-based so we ordered one of almost every item.

We started with a couple of Samosas. Please excuse the hotel room lighting. It is not very photo friendly and I am not an expert photographer. I hope you can at least imagine how tasty they were with the tamarind dipping sauce and just a bit of heat.

I hadn't seen tofu in a dosa until now but this Tofu Keema Dosa featured a mildly spiced mixture of crumbled tofu which...why not? Admittedly dosa needs to be served in one big roll to appreciate all its glory but it still tastes amazing even when folded up in a take out container. 

Next we tried the Pesarattu Dosa (green lentil) which again, we had never seen on a menu of all the dosa menus we have tried. Simple filling with this one but both came withe coconut and tomato chutneys and sambar. Very good!

Finally, on today's menu they had Sambar Vada. This was excellent and made us sweat just a bit. The rice donut was perfect to soak in the rich soup and we loved it.

If the weather was a little less forbidding, this would have been a wonderful place to sit down and eat but today we brought our eats back to our hotel. Its nice to have some vegan choices so close to Burrard Street Station.

Food                              4 out of 5

Vegan Options               4 out of 5

Comfort                         4 out of 5

Service                          4 out of 5

Value                             4 out of 5

NB. I have opted out of having Ad Sense on my blog but it seems to be taking awhile to disappear. Aside from providing annoying clutter and virtually no income, they started running Dr Gundry's olive oil ads and I would rather not be associated with nutty ideas. I realize that a blogger can opt out of specific ads but lets just call it a last straw. I don't do this to make money anyway. These days, I feel like promoting vegan eats is a form of activism. Thanks

 

AM Cafe - Plant-Based Cafe

Amid the hoopla that was the Odd Burger opening (it was hoopla to me, at least), AM Cafe (Animals Matter) quietly opened just a few blocks away at Guelph, just off East Broadway. Destined to become not only a neighborhood place for excellent coffee, breakfast, and lunch, AMC will likely become a destination place as it has an all-plant-based menu that is quite impressive!

We showed up mid morning on a Saturday, still during their soft opening to find a fair number of people with the same ideas as us. I confess to a small connection as one of my work mates knows the owners and did some of their electrical work but not enough of a connection to prejudice my notes.

We decided to try everything on their soft-opening breakfast menu, starting with the Sausage Sandwich. The egg was Just Egg and even though, I try to make vegan egg at home, you really can't touch Just Egg. It is the best thing out there if you want an egg sandwich. This came with excellent melty cheese, sausage, arugula and pesto, which was the game changer. The pesto moved this into a different category and was a brilliant touch.

The Egg and Cheese Sandwich featured smoked tofu instead of sausage but was otherwise mostly the same. Did I mention tomato? These sandwiches were a few bucks more than down the road at Odd Burger but really worth it. The extra touches (not to mention the nice atmosphere) made this a fine experience.

Finally, the Burrito which was very substantial for only a buck more! With a choice of tortilla (we chose tomatoes) the grilling again was the difference between a good and great burrito. This was full of good stuff including bacon and egg, tumeric rice (a nice touch), sweet potato, cabbage and black beans. Healthy and delicious! A perfect meal that you can hold in one hand. 

They have a nice coffee menu here as well and we shared a decaf Americano. We enjoyed the pleasant atmosphere from the decor to the personable staff. We didn't get to meet the chef as she was quite busy but she answered the questions we relayed to her. One can't ask for more when someone is working to get a business up and running. If the early results are any indication, they will do well here.

It was our intention to return and try the lunch menu (I had my eye on their fish sandwich) but that will have to be another time.

Food                         5 out of 5

Vegan Options          5 out of 5

Comfort                    5 out of 5

Service                     5 out of 5

Value                        5 out of 5

                                         

                     

Oddburger - Vegan Fast Food - Second Visit

Judging by the crowd (these are early days), I would say that the Vancouver vegan community is well aware of Oddburger and has been excitedly anticipating it as we have. Of course, maybe the omnivores are showing up as well! That would be great! Again on Sunday, we arrived right at noon (soft opening hours) and were able to sit at what we now consider "our table" but a few more minutes and it was standing room only! There aren't a ton of tables but this food is very takeout friendly.

If you haven't read about our first visit, it is one post down. Read it first if you like! Today we are leaping into the lunch menu! We ordered a couple of burgers, a chicken sandwich and a salad. I am better at the self-serve kiosks than yesterday but I still stupidly did not order combos.

First up was the BacUn Famous Melt. House-made smash patty and house-made bacUn with grilled onions, pickles, lettuce and Famous sauce on a sesame seed bun make this pretty impressive for $10. The bacUn could have been crisper but definitely tasted like a pork product and the patty is not bad. The cheese is nicely melty. A very good burger!

Next up was the Classic Burger, to which we added Cheeze. This was a full-on McDonald's cheeseburger with ketchup, onion, pickles, and mustard. I will admit to a certain amount of nostalgia here, as maybe five decades ago, the cheeseburger was my go-to at McDs. This tasty burger opened a door to my childhood, but as always, without the cruelty and for only $8. 

We tried one of the many chickUn burgers, the Sticky ChickUn. The chickUn is seitan and nicely crispy before a good dunking in the "sticky" sauce, a Korean sesame concoction. With all the toppings this was great. Have I mentioned that the sesame seed bun is really very good! Loved this also.

We thought we should try a salad and so ended up ordering the Taco Salad. Again, this felt a little nostalgic for me. This time for the Taco Time ground meat that I loved at one point in my omnivorous junk food life. In other words, this was a pretty good salad with lots of good cheese and the usual taco salad fixings!

Finally, Onion Rings! These were excellent, with wide pieces of red onion and a very good crispy batter. They have to be some of the best onion rings we have had!

So thanks again to brothers, Steven and James who have jumped through all the hoops over the last 3 years to bring this excellent Canadian chain to Vancouver.

We typically go to a place once and then move on so that I can blog about as many plant based places as possible but I have a feeling we may drop in here on occasion. I am not suggesting that fast food should be a significant part of anyone's diet. At home we eat pretty healthy with a lot of whole foods but everyone deserves a treat!

Food                         5 out of 5

Vegan Options          5 out of 5

Comfort                    4 out of 5

Service                     4 1/2 out of 5

Value                        5 out of 5

Oddburger - Vegan Fast Food - First Visit

So whenever it was that I read that Oddburger was coming to Vancouver, probably 2 years ago, I immediately downloaded the Oddburger app and have sat with my thumbs at the ready ever since. I had reached the point of, "I can't wait any longer", and was planning for Mharie and me to park, walk onto the ferry and go to Victoria for the day to scope out the Oddburger location there. Thanks to the fact that the Vancouver restaurant has heroically opened just now, I have saved $160 in transit costs (not that we don't love the occasional trip to Victoria just for the sake of being on the ferry and being in Victoria)! Oddburger serves vegan fast food and is a chain across Canada.

Being a little overexcited, we arrived at exactly noon on Saturday (soft opening hours) and it turned out to be a good thing as they got very busy very fast. Upon arriving, we placed our order at one of the 2 kiosks (I needed a little guidance as I wanted my burger as advertised but didn't realize that you still have to work your way through many of the options on the screen (senior moment)).

Our first-day mission was to explore the all-day breakfast menu (they will be opening earlier at some point) which started with a Maple Crunch  There are all kinds of options here including protein (we chose sausage), bun (we chose whole wheat muffin), black salt or no black salt (for the eggy flavour) and more or less of anything. This was a great sandwich! The maple flavour was there and the tofu was subtly eggy. It was an excellent muffin with melty cheese. All you could want without the cruelty! The regular breakfast sandwich is $5.99 here compared to an EggMcMuffin being $5.50 at McDonalds (so I am told). We are off to a great start!

Next up was the Venedict (sounds like Benedict...get it?) We chose the white muffin this time (I will always go whole wheat in the future but this was good for a white English muffin), a tofu egg with more black salt, salty ham and a creamy sauce. It was a slippery thing but very tasty. I would order it again.

The Hash Browns were exactly what you would expect. You can order anything here as a combo, but I didn't do that for some reason. 

I know it's weird to order a Strawberry Milkshake for breakfast, but this was a strategic move calculated to help us through a wide swath of the menu in two visits! Great milkshake! Not so thick that you can't get it through the straw but thick enough. Not shockingly sweet but just right!

Smokey Pulled Jackfruit Tater Tot Poutine is also not your typical breakfast food although it certainly should be! The smokey jackfruit is a winner here. You would never actually mistake it for the usual pork thing and in my opinion, it is better by far. Lighter (you can't feel your arteries hardening) but still substantial. Lots of crispy tots, gravy and cheese and you have a messy and delicious side or snack.

Speaking of two visits, I am breaking our initial investigation of Oddburger into two posts. Even though I know you guys only look at the pictures, I don't want to drone on for too long. So consider this the breakfast post and the next will be lunch. To summarize, we are loving Oddburger already. The menu is extensive with something for everyone and many options and combos.  I spoke a couple of times with Steven (sorry if it's ph) who, with his brother James, has worked for 3 full years to get this thing going. Thank you, brothers. 

And thank you for being vegan! If I had learned that this place was opened just by a couple of sharp businessmen, I would have been happy enough, but knowing that they have plant-based skin in the game makes it somehow more of a victory!

Food                         5 out of 5

Vegan Options         5 out of 5

Comfort                    4 out of 5

Service                     4 1/2 out of 5

Value                        5 out of 5