Bianca Phillips's Blog, page 220

Grills Gone Vegan for the 4th!

The launch of summer grillin' season has arrived! Truth be told, I only grill a couple times each year because I have a crappy, cheap charcoal grill and it's a pain in the ass to work with. But every year on the 4th, my friend Greg, my partner Paul, and occasionally a couple other friends break out the grill, a few six-packs, and plenty of sparklers and roman candles for a 4th of July celebration. This year, my friend Cassi joined us. Here we are!


We always, always make Tofu Kabobs!


And we had red, white, and blue tortilla chips with spicy guacamole!


 We also dipped chips into Cassi's homemade Black Bean & Corn Dip.


Cassi injected a pineapple with vodka early in the evening. And then we cut it open just before lighting our fireworks.


This year's festivities were perfectly timed with the recent release of my blogger pal Tamasin Noyes' Grills Gone Vegan.


Tami includes plenty of protein-heavy main dishes for the grill, but we opted for veggie dogs (not pictured because I forgot) because I bought a bunch of Yves sausages on sale a month or so ago, and they've been lurking in my freezer waiting for this occasion. Had I not had hot dogs already, I'm certain I would have tried the Coffee-Crusted Ribz from Grills Gone Vegan (seitan ribs with a coffee-based dry rub!). Or the Smoked Tofu (made using liquid smoke and a grill, no smoker needed).

But that's okay. I was still super excited to try a few fresh-from-the-grill sides. You can't have a barbecue without grilled corn on the cob. And Tami provides a recipe for Roasted Corn on the Cob with Chipotle Butter.


That's a spicy, smoky homemade butter, and it really takes plain ole corn from so-so to gourmet.

I also tried her Smoky Potato Packets.


A few years ago, Greg and I tried roasting a whole potato on the grill. But duh, it doesn't work that way! You have to cut the potatoes into small pieces. For these packets, red potatoes are cut into rounds, tossed with herbs, olive oil, and nutritional yeast and wrapped in foil packets. Then they're tossed onto the grill. Delicious!

There are so many more dishes I can't wait to try from this book. And don't worry. Even if you don't own an outdoor grill, there are plenty of recipes with indoor grill and oven options. For example, you can cook the Tempeh-Chickpea Stew with Harissa Biscuits (yes, please!) in a cast-iron skillet on an outdoor grill. Or you can cook it in an ovenproof skillet in the oven.

She even has a recipe for Tofu Corned Beef!! And it's served on a Reuben-Inspired Breakfast Sandwich! And the whole dish can be cooked indoors (because who fires up the charcoal grill before noon?). I'll definitely be trying this for breakfast soon.

We didn't have dessert at our celebration because we were all too full for a sweet final course. But Tami has some delectable desserts in Grills Gone Vegan — Skillet Grilled Cherry Crisp, Rocky Road Flatbread, and Cinnamon Swirl (a cross between coffee cake and cinnamon rolls!).

Happy Poet DVD Giveaway!

Isn't it every vegan's dream to operate a successful food cart? I mean, I love my job. But if I could somehow find a way to never sleep and do it all, I'd love to run a food cart too. No overheard. Flexibility. And yet all the fun of cooking and selling your creations.

That's Bill's dream in the newly released indie film The Happy Poet. With the meager help of a teensy bank loan (due to his poor credit), Bill pours his heart into a fledgling organic, vegetarian food cart business. He secures an old hot dog cart from a crazy, somewhat violent former hot dog vendor. Bill lovingly crafts eggless egg salad sandwiches and hummus wraps in his kitchen, loads up the stand, and sets up shop in a park.

His first day is hell. Nobody buys a thing, and one man even tosses a free "sample" eggless egg salad sandwich into the trash while in Bill's eyeshot. But eventually, Bill makes some crazy new friends, and his dream starts to become reality — but not without a few challenges. You'll have to see the film for yourself to find out what happens.

I loved this film. Bill is played by indie actor Paul Gordon (also the film's writer and director), known for his signature deadpan humor. Bill's idealism and steadfastness is admirable, even if his character is a little frustratingly kindhearted. Not only does The Happy Poet encourage us to follow our dreams, but it also teaches a few life lessons about balancing kindness with self-preservation.


Now here's where you come in: The film has just been released on DVD by Cinema Libre Studio. And they want to do a The Happy Poet DVD giveaway for Vegan Crunk readers!

For one entry, leave a comment on this post about your vegan dream. Please leave your email address in the comment if your Blogger commenting profile is anonymous or doesn't connect to a profile page with contact info.

Then you can earn additional entries by doing the following. Don't worry! You only have to comment once for one entry. But if you'd like more chances to win, you can:

1) Tweet about the giveaway and tag @biancaphillips. Leave me a comment here to let me know you tweeted.
2). Post a link to the giveaway on Facebook. Leave me a comment here to let me know you did.

I'll randomly select a winner on Tuesday evening. Good luck!

Raw Food Diary

I like a cookbook that tells a story. You can learn so much from what a person eats everyday or what they prepare for a special occasion, like a birthday party. I like to learn the history behind a dish. Did your grandma make it? Where were you when you first tried the dish? How has this dish impacted your life?

Annelie Whitfield's new un-cookbook, Annelie's Raw Food Power, isn't just a collection of wholesome, mostly vegan recipes (she uses honey in a few dishes), it's a diary about raising her family in the lush jungles of Costa Rica.

Yep, Annelie, her husband, and their two kids sold their London home, moved to the jungle, and lived on a diet of raw, native plant foods. Throughout the book are journal entries and photos from their time there. She writes about the jungle shack they called home, dealing with a teething baby in the jungle, what she packs in her kid's lunch, and how kids eat at jungle birthday parties.

Of course, most of the book is composed of recipes! Wholesome stuff with gorgeous photos on every page — Raw Healthy Pizza (macadamia nut cheese and raw marinara on a buckwheat sunflower seed crust), Quick Raw Tomato Soup, Raw Cauliflower Rice with Stir-Fry Vegetables (don't worry, the veggies are "fried" through dehydrating), Dairy-Free Fruit Yogurt, Mango Lassi Mousse with Berries, Raw Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Coconut Cream Pie.

She even includes natural home remedies like her Onion & Thyme Cough Syrup, Cocobiotic Drink (probiotic coconut water), and her Indian Goddess Syrup (good for warding off colds).

After much deliberation, I chose two recipes. Since I bought a butt-load of fresh pickling cucumbers at the farmer's market last Saturday, I picked this Cucumber & Mint Summer Soup.


This is a blended raw soup made from romaine, cucumbers, mint, garlic, and avocado. It's served chilled, perfect for the 90-degree temps we've been having here. I enjoyed the creaminess from the avocado and the clean taste of mint.

I also made the Salty Corn Chips with Adi's Amazing Raw Zucchini Hummus.


These "corn chips" were dehydrated flax crackers with fresh corn, olive oil, garlic, and salt. I've long been a fan of flax crackers, but these were even better than other raw cracker recipes I've made. There's a ton of fresh, cut-off-the-cob corn in these, and they actually taste like corn chips without all the salt and fat. Now I love salt and fat, but I girl has to eat healthily sometimes, right?

I dipped the chips into the zucchini hummus. I've tried zucchini hummus from a couple other raw books, but it's been awhile. It always amazes me how processed zucchini gives hummus that same creamy quality that chickpeas do. It also contains avocado, which definitely ups the creamy factor. The recipe called for a whole cup of tahini. But I lessened it down to a half-cup because one cup seemed like too much. I used all the other ingredients in the amounts called for, and it still came out perfectly.

Annelie's Raw Food Power is a great summer read. Plus, these healthy, no-cook recipes are definitely meant to be enjoyed at the height of the hot summer.

Isabella's Vegan Cookies!

I love to bake. But baking can be dangerous for me. You see, I'm not one of those people who can bake a batch of cookies and wait until they cool to sample a bite of a cookie and then give the rest away. Nope. I lick the bowl. I sample a cookie straight from the oven, another 15 minutes later, and probably another after they cool. I do always give some away but not before hoarding back a few. I call that quality control.

I do much better with packaged, homemade cookies from small-batch bakeries. And I like it when the calories are on the bag. And I like it when the calories are reasonable. Oh, and it helps when those cookies are delectable and possibly better than homemade. And that's the case with Isabella's Cookie Company cookies!

Isabella's, which is based in Redondo Beach, California, sent me some samples of their new vegan flavors. Isabella's isn't just a vegan bakery though. They offer pretty extensive line of non-vegan cookies too in flavors like green mint chip, apple fritter, and fluffer nutter. But they do have seven vegan flavors. I love it when non-vegan companies cater to vegans too!

The new vegan flavors are V-Ging (vegan ginger molasses cookie with vanilla drizzle) and V-RV (vegan red velvet cookie with sweet vanilla drizzle).


First I sampled the V-RV.


Imagine a slice of soft, moist red velvet cake baked into a cookie. That's what this was. These were very soft and very cakey. And the vanilla drizzle was the perfect complement to the fluffy cookie. I could have eaten the whole bag! Damn, maybe cookies from bakeries are dangerous for me too. Luckily, these are only 110 calories per cookie. Not bad.

Anyway, I like to live on the edge (okay, not really). I only dig danger when we're talkin' "eating too many cookies dangerous." Yes, I'm quite the rebel. So rebellious that I waited until the next day to break into the V-Ging cookies.


These were amazing! I love a chewy cookie more than just about anything. And these were perfectly chewy. And I'm not sure why, but these reminded me of the way doughnuts taste. And we all know how I feel about doughnuts. A co-worker commented that they were a little too sweet, but I didn't think so. Then again, I've been known to say, "There's no such thing as too rich." And no, we're not talking about money.

I'd love to try Isabella's other vegan flavors. There's a chocolate chip cookie (V-Chip), peanut butter (V-Nutter), oatmeal (V-Oat), chocolate chocolate chip (V-Coco), and a low-sugar chocolate chip cookie (Lil' Sweet Bella).

You can order the cookies on Isabella's website. They're $4.25 for a bag of five mini-bite cookies or $7.50 for a bag of 10 bite-sized cookies (that's the size I have here, about the same as any regular cookie).

Of Love & Pad Thai

Short post tonight. I have to get up at 4:30 a.m. to go running. It's the first day of my half-marathon training (I'm running the Shelby Farms Half-Marathon in October), and although I don't typically wake up that early to run, I have an early meeting at work to get to after my run.

So I'll share a couple pictures of Paul's and my ninth anniversary on Friday. Yep, nine long years. We celebrated with a casual dinner at Paul's favorite Thai place — Bhan Thai. I've done a whole post on Bhan Thai before (you can see that here), but it really is a great Thai place. Technically, it's my second favorite. I like Jasmine Thai & Vegetarian Restaurant in the Cooper-Young area the best. But Bhan Thai is a little fancier for a date night, and it has a great summer patio.

Anyway, here we are on the patio.


I typically order the Cashew Nut with Tofu, but Paul suggested I try the Pad Thai. He used to work at Bhan Thai, so he's had just about everything on the menu. I took his advice. I ordered Pad Thai with Tofu (hold the eggs and fish sauce).


Best pad thai I've ever had! The tofu was perfectly fried. The sauce was light and flavorful. The rice noodles were just the right texture. And the peanuts and sprouts sealed the deal.

Like most Thai places, Bhan Thai uses fish sauce in many dishes, but they will happily veganize anything they can. Just avoid the curries because the fish sauce is already in the sauces they make for the curries, so they can't leave it out.

Vegan Cuts Snack Box Redux!

I first wrote about the Vegan Cuts Snack Box subscription service back in November. The kind folks at Vegan Cuts sent me a box to review then, and I was overwhelmed with awesomeness.

But the box has improved since then! They sent me the June snack box to sample, and it's bigger and better than ever. Just look at all this stuff!


There's Ultima Replenisher Electrolyte Powder (grape), The Good Bean Sweet Cinnamon Chickpea Snacks, Beanfield's Bean & Rice Chips (sea salt), Snapz Zucchini Chips, Macrolife Naturals Macro Greens Powder, Michy's Cran-Rustica Vegan Cookie, Earnest Eats Baked Whole Food Bar (dark choco mint), Salba Chia Seeds, Fanciful Fox Vegan Peanut Butter Lip Balm, and Go Veggie! Vegan Parmesan.

That's 10 things! And the parm is in a full-sized shaker. I believe the earlier versions of the box had a little less stuff.  This new box seems completely worth the $19.95 per month charge to subscribe to Vegan Cuts monthly box. In case you don't know, these boxes are available through monthly subscriptions. They always contain 7-10 products that are typically gluten-free. And new subscribers get a $15 gift card to the Vegan Chic online store.

I haven't had the chance to try everything in the box yet, but here's what I've had so far. I immediately ripped open the Snapz Zucchini Chips because, um, zucchini chips! These were a like little, crunchy dehydrated zuke slices. Perfect for satisfying that crunch craving without eating something naughty.


Although I've had them before, I was very excited about the Beanfield's Bean & Rice Chips. Of course, their nacho flavor is my fave. But these sea salt chips are delicious too. Crunchy, salty, and pretty substantial, thanks to the beans. These chips even have protein!


I'm loving the Fanciful Fox Lip Balm! It makes my lips taste like peanut butter all the time, which on second thought, might be dangerous. I may have tried to chew on my lips a few times with this on.

The Good Bean Sweet Cinnamon Chickpea Snacks are delightfully crispy with a sugary-cinnamon toast crunch taste. These reminded me of a breakfast cereal. I could totally eat a bowl of these in almond milk.


And finally, I nibbled on the Earnest Eats Bar today. I was expecting a brownie-like dessert, but this is actually a healthy bar. It's better suited for a snack than a sweet treat. And the best part? It's made with mint grown by refugees who have resettled in the U.S. Ten cents from the sale of every Earnest Bar supports the International Rescue Committee, which helps refugees find sanctuary.


Want a Vegan Cuts box of your own? Subscribe! And don't worry. You can cancel at any time.

The Southern Vegetarian Cookbook

Memphis veg folks have the Southern cookin' cookbook department on lock. First, there was native Memphian/food justice activist Bryant Terry's lovely Vegan Soul Kitchen. Then came my book, Cookin' Crunk. And just a couple months ago, my pals Justin Fox-Burks and Amy Lawrence released their beautiful, photo-heavy cookbook, The Southern Vegetarian.

Justin and I actually work together in real life. He's a freelance photographer for the Memphis Flyer, the alt-weekly newspaper where I serve as associate editor. Long before either of us imagined we'd be food-bloggers-turned-cookbook-authors, we were going on assignments to crazy places, like the Tennessee elephant sanctuary, a haunted house in Bolivar, and the Farm in Summertown (where my publisher is ... but this was before I knew I'd ever need a publisher).

A couple years ago, Justin and his wife Amy started blogging at The Chubby Vegetarian. It started with a few pictures of the gourmet vegetarian meals Justin was whipping up for their dinners. And then they started publishing recipes on the blog, and before you know it, they had a book deal to produce a Southern cookbook.

Now, this is a vegetarian cookbook, not a vegan one. But that doesn't mean it's not loaded with naturally vegan dishes and easy-to-veganize lacto-ovo recipes. Some, like the Vegan Sloppy Joes (made with mushrooms and lentils), are already egg- and dairy-free. I tested these for their cookbook last year.


And others, like the ones I've made so far since the book came out, were super easy to make vegan versions of.

First, I tried the Sweet Potato Grits with Maple Mushrooms.


Best breakfast I've had in awhile. I've been in a cereal rut lately, and I'd forgotten how amazing a hot savory breakfast can be. These grits have mashed sweet potatoes mixed in. And then they're topped with roasted maple mushrooms and a sweet-and-tangy mix of tomatoes, shallots, and parsley.

The original recipe calls for a fried egg on top, but you can just leave that off and it's not lacking a thing.

Next up was my dinner tonight — Vegetarian "Chicken" with Parsley & Olive Oil Dumplings.


Y'all know I love me some chicken 'n' dumplins now. I've always been partial to my mama's recipe, but these are slightly different. And equally delicious (but don't tell my mama). The recipe calls for seitan for the "chicken," but I used some chopped up Beyond Meat strips in the Lightly Seasoned flavor. Beyond Meat is so realistic, it's almost creepy. Using that in this dish made it taste so much like the chicken 'n' dumplins I ate as a kid.

The dumplins, which are flecked with little bits of fresh parlsey, are dropped into the hot broth by the tablespoonful rather than rolled out and cut like my mama does. I have to admit that this method is much easier. Loved this dish. It might seem a little heavy for a summer evening, but I don't care. Just so good. Also I loved the fresh veggie garnish — chopped carrots and celery mixed with a touch of vinegar and sugar.

There are so many more recipes that I want to try from The Southern Vegetarian. For one, I must make the homemade Coconut Bacon when I run out of my stash of Phoney Baloney's brand. I tried some of Justin and Amy's coconut bacon on a vegan BLT bite at their booksigning, and it tasted EXACTLY like the Phoney Baloney's stuff that vegans (including me!) are obsessing over right now.

The Vegetarian Frogmore Stew is on my list. It's free of frogs, of course, but has their homemade Vegetarian Boudin Sausage in it! Also on the list are BBQ Tofu Pizza on a beer pizza crust, the Vegetarian Roasted Red Pepper and Olive Muffuletta, the Caprese Salad in a Jar (using vegan mozzarella, of course!), Zucchini Fries, and the Vegan Peanut Chili with Charred Corn and Avocado Salsa.

Oh, and let's not forget dessert and cocktails! Before summer is over, I must try the Spicy Cucumber-Lemonade Popsicles. And the as soon as I get a new juicer (mine broke), the Juicer Bloody Marys (made from fresh juiced tomatoes) are totally happening.

Superfood Smoothies

There was a time when I considered smoothies to be nothing more than snacks. When I attempted to replace meals with them, usually breakfast, I was always hungry an hour later. But then I discovered that Vega protein powder makes for a very filling, satisfying smoothie. Now I drink smoothies for breakfast a couple days each week.

So I was super-excited to review Superfood Smoothies by Julie Morris. I'm always looking for new smoothie recipes since I tend to fall into ruts when left to my own devices.

This lovely hardcover, full-color book is loaded with gorgeous pictures of smoothies made with "superfoods" — stuff like camu powder, chia seeds, cacao nibs, sea buckthorn, and mulberries. Now, I'm not so sure I believe in the hype about superfoods being all-powerful. But I'm sure the stuff is great for you! Maybe not any better than more accessible "superfoods" like kale and strawberries. But hey, it's fun to use "superfoods," right? Since some superfoods are a little pricey, I picked a smoothie that contained things I already had in my pantry and fridge — Raspberry Almond.


Made with frozen raspberries, dates, almond butter, acai powder, cacao nibs, vanilla, and coconut water, this refreshing smoothie tasted like heaven. And it was packed with good stuff.

Admittedly, I did add a scoop of Vega One berry protein powder after I sampled the smoothie, just to make sure it would keep me full through lunch time.

There are tons of recipes in here, and as far as I can tell, they're all vegan. The recipes are divided into chapters based on whether they're rich and creamy, green and vibrant, or fruity and light. There's even a Doggie Smoothie made with kale, banana, chia seeds, hemp protein, and peanut butter. I'll definitely try making a couple for my pooches.

If you're looking for super-healthy smoothie ideas, Superfood Smoothies is a great way to go.

Vegan Divorce Party!

This is my friend Cassi.


We met about a year and a half ago when we were fighting for the mayorship of Kroger on Foursquare. We started stalking one another because we're both pretty cutthroat about our Foursquare territory. This stranger stole my Kroger crown, and I was all, "Who does this bitch think she is? She. Is. Going. Down." And then we friended one another and started talking in the comments. Before we knew it, we were great friends in real life! And just a few months ago, Cassi went vegan!

Well, as long as I've known Cassi, she's been single. But she was actually married to some dude she'd been separated from for years. And she just finalized her divorce. So we had a party last Saturday night.

Cassi, Stephanie (a.k.a. Poopie Bitch), and Kristin prepared the food — all vegan, of course. Excuse my dimly lit pictures. Cassi had the mood lighting going. There were Vegan Duck Spring Rolls.


And Guacamole Bruschetta.


And the world's best Vegan Meatballs (I may have eaten at least 10 of these).


Kristin spent a lot of time making these cutesy Hummus Cups with Fresh Veggies.


And we had Fruit Kabobs drizzled with blueberry balsamic vinegar.



But the real star of the show was the Champagne & Chocolate Raspberry Cake that Stephanie (of Swell Baked Goods) created. Cassi requested two ethnically diverse grooms to represent the possibilities for men in her future. But I called it her gay cake. In the spirit of the Supreme Court's upcoming groundbreaking marriage equality decision this week (I'm on pins and needles, y'all), it seemed appropriate to have two grooms, right?


Anyway, same-sex grooms or not, it didn't really matter by the night's end. After a few glasses of wine and a ritual bonfire burning of stuff that reminded her of her ex, this is how Cassi and the cake ended up.

Memphis Plant-Based Food Fest!

This past weekend was the second annual Memphis Plant-Based Food Fest, a three-day celebration of all things vegan with food demos, lectures, vendors, and a plant-based 5K, in Overton Park.

I wanted to do the 5K, which was new this year, but I was scheduled to do a food demo at noon on Saturday, a few hours after the 5K. And I didn't want to be all sweaty for my demo! I made my Eggless Tofu Olive Salad and my Vegan Pimiento Cheese, both from Cookin' Crunk. Here I am whipping up some stuff!


I had a pretty good crowd that overflowed outside the demo tent. After the demo, I sold and signed some books.


Once the demo was over, I was free to hang out and have fun with my newly vegan friend Cassi. We were hungry, so we walked around to check out the food options. Imagine Vegan Cafe was there selling vegan chicken bacon melts, vegan cheesesticks, and homemade cinnamon rolls and other sweet treats. But by the time we got to their booth, they were sold out of the savory stuff. And while cinnamon rolls sounded delicious, I wanted something more substantial.

Thankfully, I stumbled upon this.


Yep, there was a vendor selling vegan fried stuff!! Right up my alley. These Fried Green Tomato Fries were AMAZING!! They were crispy and not at all greasy despite the fact that the word "fried" is in the name twice. My kind of food.


To balance my junk foody meal, I followed these fries with a refreshing Fresh Watermelon Juice from Balewa's Vegan Gourmet, purveyor of delicious raw foods.


Cassi got a watermelon juice too. But she bought hers from Juzemibaby, a Memphis-based juice press that bottles fresh juices. I'd never even heard of this place, but they apparently sell their juices all over town.


We stopped by the Food Awareness tent for a photo op. Food Awareness is our Memphis vegetarian club, and we had a booth with free vegetarian literature and veggie starter kits. Here's Food Awareness founder Vaughan with Cassi (on the left) and his girlfriend Nicole (on the right).


There were also vendors selling homemade jewelry, soaps, incense, and other goodies. I loved these crocheted earrings at the Funky Knits & Naturals booth.


After much deliberation, I finally settled on these ginormous earrings.


This is Bastet. She's the lead organizer of the Plant-Based Food Fest. Bastet has been a force in the Memphis vegan community for years. She currently runs the Natural House of Wellness, a shop selling herbs, incense, and new age-y wellness stuff. And she makes and sells the most delicious packaged vegan popcorn at Whole Foods, Cosmic Coconut, and other locations.


This year's food fest was so much fun! It's grown a bit since last year, and I hope it just keeps on growing.