Vegtastic!

There are quite a few vegan quesos on the market right now, which makes it easier/awesomer than ever to be vegan. I was pleased to see three competing brands in six different flavors at Sidecar for Pig’s Peace over the weekend, and bought three jars:

1. Food for Lovers’ vegan queso (which VidaVeganCon introduced me to, and I love)
2. Nacho Mom’s Ultimate Vegan Queso (also in Fire Roasted and Voodoo flavors)
3. Nacheez vegan nacho sauce, spicy (also in mild)

I learned about 30 minutes later there is a feud going on between a couple of the quesos that extends beyond the grocery shelf.

As I checked Twitter at Chaco Canyon while enjoying a large kombucha and waiting for my sandwich to arrive (after stocking up on queso and other vegan goodies at Sidecar), I saw the following tweet from Quarry Girl:

OH SHIT! SCANDAL! did nacho mom’s@veganqueso totally rip off & steal from@foodforlovers? looks like it:https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=295193767191626&set=p.295193767191626&type=1&ref=nf #teamFF<3

If this is true, and there does seem to be quite a bit of evidence to that point, that was a really crappy move on Nacho Mom’s part. Still, I was determined to give each the benefit of the doubt and a fair taste test.

Update: the Facebook post above has been taken down, though is available on Lazy Smurf’s Guide to Life. Please also see chef Alana of Nacho Mom’s side of things on her website or in her comment below.

It was a really crappy move on my part to take sides or spread rumors based one account, though I haven’t changed any of the initial wording in this post. I acknowledge my bias, but maintain that the results of my taste test are fair.

To ensure an impartial trial, I pulled in David, who is impervious to vegan drama. And likes nachos. A lot.

And to make it all scientific-like, David closed his eyes and ate a plain chip and drank a sip of water to cleanse his palate between tastings. All were consumed cold.

A: Food for Lovers. B: Nacho Mom’s. C: Nacheez

Food for Lovers

David tried this first and nodded with approval, saying, “Mmm… it’s good.” When pressed for why it’s good, he replied that it was cheezy, with a little spice.

I, too, quite enjoyed this one. It’s creamy without being watery or gelatinous, and is a natural yellow color, with visible chunks of tomato and pepper. It was the spiciest of the bunch, with chili being the dominant flavor, balanced by a mild, savory cheeziness. It’s very fresh and sinus-clearing.

Food for Lovers’ vegan queso is soy-free and nut-free, but does have wheat. The ingredient list is simple and all-natural, and it’s $5.15 for a 12-oz jar, with 20 calories per 2 tbs (12 servings in all).

Nacheez

David’s immediate first reaction to this was of disgust. He described it as having a sweetness that doesn’t taste like queso, and definitely not as spicy or thick as Food for Lovers’ queso. However, he noted that it is edible.

I didn’t pick up the same sweetness (roasted red pepper is the second ingredient, so I can see where it comes from) or disgust, but agree that it’s rather bland — definitely not spicy and without the umami richness of the other two, though I liked the flavor. The texture is a little jiggly. It’s also a day-glo orange color, which turns me off a little, though there is no food coloring added.

Nacheez is free of soy and gluten, but does have cashews. It has the longest list of ingredients of the three, though none are crazy or artificial, and is the priciest: $6.25 for 8.5 oz, with 20 calories per 2 tbs (7 servings in all).

Nacho Mom’s

David found this to be middle of the road: a bit of sweetness, but not as much as Nacheez’s, and also not spicy, but thicker than the others.

Nacho Mom’s really isn’t all that spicy (again, I didn’t taste the sweetness David perceived at all), but has a nice hint of smokiness, probably from paprika — it’s quite tasty. The only downsides are that it’s a little gelatinous if not stirred and is an odd pinkish-orange color, with many big chunks of tomato (the chunks of tomato not being a downside; just an observation)

The ingredient list is straightforward and basic, with tomato as the first ingredient — no surprise there, based on the flavor and appearance. It’s also soy and nut free, but has wheat. At $4.75 for 16 ounces, it’s the most cost-effective. It’s also the most calorie-effective: only 10 calories per ounce, making the whole jar only 160.

L to R: Food for Lovers, Nacho Mom’s, Nacheez

The winner:

Food for Lovers — the spiciness and mellow cheeze flavor make it stand out. David said he would eat this first, with plain chips being his second choice; I would order it Food for Lovers, closely followed by Nacho Mom’s and then Nacheez.

However, I don’t regret having open jars of any of them in the fridge, and will happily eat Nacho Mom’s and Nacheez on baked potatoes and steamed broccoli while David munches on tortilla chips dunked in Food for Lovers. Plus, Nacheez is a great option for the gluten-free vegans out there.

I wanted to hate Nacho Mom’s queso based on what I had read, but really didn’t — the recipe is different enough from Food for Lovers that, even if it is a rip-off, it’s just another option on the market, and it’s pretty tasty. Still, I’ll stick with Food for Lovers queso — it’s delicious, David likes it best, and the founders, a young married couple from Texas, are just too cute.

image by bookgrl via Creative Commons — not in Seattle

Thanksgiving can be challenging for vegans. And by “can be,” what I really mean is “is always.”

The entire holiday is centered around the killing and eating of a specific bird, so it’s pretty obviously not a holiday that vegans truly can embrace. Technically, Thanksgiving’s purpose is to show gratitude and thanks, which I am all for, but saying that Thanksgiving isn’t about turkey is like saying Christmas isn’t about consumerism. Lies!

Never are our values and dietary habits more apparent than when we pass on the turkey, and by that time in the afternoon some family member will have had enough liquor to openly poke fun at our beliefs.

Yep, Uncle Ed, I’m still doing that weird cult thing, and nope, Aunt Mary, I don’t care how long you spent making that egg-filled pie — I’m not eating it.

Plus, the prospect of preparing plant-based meals for crazy vegan guests can intimidate our hosts and cause friction in relationships.

So what does that all have to do with this post? Thanksgiving ideas and product reviews.

Lisa works at a PR firm that does a lot of work with Pacific Northwest Whole Foods stores, and invited me to a Thanksgiving preview at the Interbay Whole Foods last week; Lisa and I pretty much switched lives last year — she quit her job teaching lawyers how to use the internet to go work with food bloggers and enroll in the MCDM program at UW, while I graduated with an MCDM degree then quit my internship working with food bloggers to go teach lawyers how to use the Internet.

The event brought in foodies and bloggers to showcase Whole Foods Thanksgiving offerings, and I liked what I tasted, so I’m writing my honest opinion. They’re also having a tasting event tonight, with proceeds from the $5 suggested donation going to Solid Ground.

I was impressed with the buffet Whole Foods served: mashed potatoes made with cashew cream (BRILLIANT idea — must replicate), mushroom gravy, farro pilaf, a seasonal fruit/nut salad, two kinds of cranberry sauce (the healthier, less-cooked relish-y one made with orange being far superior to the sugary stewed variety), and a couple of kinds of pumpkin pie, one more-or-less raw and the other rather traditional, complete with soy whipped cream.

Buffet — camera focused on the flowers more than the food, apparently.

The meal:

Healthy pumpkin pie:

Traditional pie with soy whip:

Now, as a caveat, I’m not generally a proponent of outsourcing holiday meals — homemade with love is (usually) best, and there are a plethora of delicious recipes out there: Blissful Bites and Tofu Mom have wonderful recipes for gravy, Fat Free Vegan Kitchen has an awesome-looking green bean casserole, and Soundly Vegan has tons of Thanksgiving inspiration. I’m not quite as ambitious as M.E, who makes her own tofurkey, but Field Roast’s puff pastry-wrapped celebration loaf is generally the only thing I’ll buy (this year’s loaf has been sitting in my parent’s freezer for a month).

However, we don’t always have the option to make a T-day (tofurkey day, that is) meal from scratch.

You may find yourself in one of the following situations:

• your family is absolutely baffled at what to cook for you
• you’re traveling and don’t have access to a kitchen but still want to contribute to the meal
• you belong to one of those irritatingly stubborn families that insist that guests don’t bring anything then ask if you’re cool with just eating fake meat in the sauce it came with and salad (so you want to pick up something anyhow without offending them by trying to one-up them with something homemade)
• you just don’t have room in your tiny apartment to prepare a feast but still want to entertain

In which case I would fully endorse Whole Foods’ offerings.

I left the event with a generous swag bag containing the following:

CB’s Nuts pumpkin seeds are amazing — two very enthusiastic thumbs up. CB apparently soaks them in sea salt before roasting them, resulting in the ideal level of saltiness. Denise Breyley, the Whole Foods staffer leading the session, raved about them, and I could not agree more. A great discovery.

Denise also had very positive things to say about Manini’s gluten-free baking mix — “great for everyone.” I baked up a loaf using the all-purpose blend, and it ended up flat and overly chewy, though still relatively tasty. As a diehard fan of wheat, I’m probably not the best judge of Manini’s offerings, so I’m going to give the other two bags that came home with me to a couple of gluten-free friends for their review.

I love Bluebird grain farm’s farro, and excitedly cooked up a mushroom pilaf using more or less the recipe on the back of the Potlatch Pilaf bag. I like the contrast between the softer farro and the crunchier wild rice.

Finally, Finn River black current apple brandy.

Tart, sweet, thick but not syrupy — delicious. Denise suggested to pour it over ice cream, mix it with seltzer, or just drink it plain. I drank it plain.

Because the Interbay Whole Foods store is kinda the most amazing place on earth (not really, but it’s massive and has a selection you won’t find at other natural foods stores) I did a little shopping after the event and picked up some Whole Foods deli mushroom gravy and Gardein Savory Stuffed Turkey with gravy.

Here they are with my mushroom pilaf:

I wasn’t a huge fan of the gravy that came with the Gardein (it had a dirt-like rosemary flavor), but the cutlets were good topped with the Whole Foods mushroom gravy instead and would probably be even better topped with the mushroom gravy from Blissful Bites. David found them to be eerily similar to real meat, and the stuffing on the inside was fun. No celebration loaf, but definitely edible.

So, put them all together (plus roasted brussels sprouts) and you have Helen’s Whole Foods-inspired Thanksgiving feast (minus cashew cream mashed potatoes — which I will be making, oh yes):

So, in conclusion, make what you can, but don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Uwajimaya seemed like a distant, magical wonderland of exotic goodies before I started working in Pioneer Square.

Suddenly, I was there once a week, sometimes more, to marvel at the imported (and locally-produced) pan-Asian delicacies — many of them vegan — and to buy beer for the office on Friday afternoons, back when my job description included that task.

My favorite thing to eat from Uwajimaya’s sushi section are gomoku inari, clumps of chewy shiitaki- and carrot-infused rice stuffed inside sweet tofu skins — the savory-sweet combo gets me every time. Just to give you a hint on how often I consume gomoku inari: I decided to stop taking the soy sauce packets and bought a bottle. I’m on my second bottle. Oh yes.

Uwajimaya has changed the recipe in the past year, and, while they lack their previous je ne sais quoi, the gomoku inari are still filling and delicious.

I have checked, double-checked, and triple-checked to confirm that they are vegan — there are a lot of ingredients, and they sort of wrap around the packaging. One of the ingredients is MSG, but I’m okay with that.

MSG’d!

A little study in food photography: find a light source at your desk, arrange gomoku inaru on a plate, fluff up the rice and mushrooms, shoot, adjust in photoshop.

ALSO

It’s VeganMoFo hump day!! Halfway there! Click the image to see it do gif-y stuff.

Please also enjoy Leslie Hall’s veggies song. The song is funny, and Leslie, aka Mother Gem, is a really cool lady. Thanks to Kittee for spreading the word!

Vegan flash mobs FTW!