Over spring break I returned home to Los Angeles and feasted on vegan eats and treats of all sorts. I didn't document all that I ate mainly due to my lack of effort but I did remember to photograph my soul food plate from the farmers market. I don't remember the food to have been extraordinary by any measure but it was filling and, to a certain extent, comforting in the traditional sense of soul food.
Scoops, on the other hand, did not disappoint. I don't remember the flavors but I'm sure I enjoyed every bit of this two scoop, sprinkled ice cream cup of joy. I'm so grateful that the best ice cream shop in LA offers four vegan flavors daily in addition to sorbets (that aren't completely vegan due to the refined sugar).
There's a new vegan joint in town called Jax Vegan Cafe and I really enjoyed their food and their free wireless. During spring break I camped out here to write my senior essay while munching on their fantastic chopped salads. Although I never photographed my meals, I did remember to take a photo of the Sweet&Sara smores that I snagged from their well stocked dessert case.
I still had a sweet tooth when I returned to Yale and was especially craving a good donut. After trying Vegan Treats Bakery's donuts I have yet to find a more accessible donut that came as close to the non-vegan donut. This packaged donut was fine but tasted baked rather than fried (which I'm sure it was).
I also ordered donuts from a baker on etsy.com. These were much better than the packaged donut but they also were more like cakes than traditional fried donuts. I plan to visit Ronald's Donuts in Vegas in a few weeks and am confident that I will be able to get my donut fix there. I would also love it if Mighty O's opened up a store in Los Angeles...
I tackled My Sweet Vegan once again with these brownies. The flavor was pretty good and the crumb topping was nice but the texture was a bit too chewy for my liking. I actually made the green tea tiramisu from this cookbook this past week and it was the most successful recipe I have tried from this book. I'm not sure why most of the treats I make from these recipes fail in one way or another. It may be because I have such high expectations from the beautiful pictures that accompany the text. But there are many more recipes I hope to tackle in the near future.
The pound cake from Veganomicon was very nice. The texture and the flavor were perfect. I would definitely make this again if it weren't for the fear that I would eat the whole loaf all on my own. This leads me to the point of how excited I am to be moving back to LA to friends and family who will actually eat my creations! At least Angelenos embrace the taste of "healthy foods" whereas I've found east coasters/Yalies to scoff the idea of baked goods sans butter.
I made pizza from scratch! This included making the dough (what a process!), the sauces (red and pesto), and the "ricotta" topping. This was delicious! I hope to make homemade pizzas more often.
Finally, I cannot leave the northeast without mentioning one of my favorite vegan dishes found in NYC. Candle 79's seitan piccata is beyond delish! The sauce is unbelievably smooth and flavorful and the texture of the seitan is wonderful inside the mouth. The price was a bit steep but I trust that the quality of ingredients in the dish was high. This will be one of the things I will miss once I leave.
