Vegan Chicago: Review of Chicago Health Foods Store

Chicago Health Foods store replaced Maple St. Market a little while ago and I admit, I hadn't been in really since the change in ownership. Maple St. Market was not far from my apartment and school, so I used to go in there every once in awhile to pick up some odds and ends (say if I ran out of vegan toothpaste and didn't feel like going to Whole Foods for it, stuff like that). It was your general health food store, more geared towards hygiene products and supplements, if anything. The owners were not friendly and rather off-putting. They had a sandwich bar at one point and changed it only to a juice bar eventually. I wasn't too sad to see Maple St. Market close. 

Now, Chicago Health Foods store is an entirely different story. I go in here all the time. It's nice to support a local health food store versus giants like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. The new owners are way more friendly and helpful. They redid the inside layout and it looks much better and brighter. The place carries a variety of hygiene products, a lot of them vegan, like shaving lotion, shampoo and conditioner, soaps, face products, lotions, toothpaste, mouthwash, etc. They also carry candles and incense in this area. The middle section of the store has all the supplements and raw powder products. There is your standard selection of every vitamin you can imagine, powders like wheatgrass and spirulina for juicing, and protein powders. There is a snack wall with a whole slew of different types of chips and crackers.

Towards the back is the small food section. On one side, there is the frozen section with a bunch of vegan options like Amy's dinners, Tofurky pizzas, Tofutti ice cream bars and pizza, meatless burger patties, and frozen vegetables. The thing I like about Chicago Health Foods store is that they have somewhat obscure vegan products that you don't always find other places like the Tofutti pizza and their "Marry Me" ice cream bars. On the far back wall is the refrigerated section with vegan cheeses, butter, various drinks, and a line of their own pre-packaged food like raw cauliflower salad, raw kale salad, curried seitan, etc. I really like their raw cauliflower and raw broccoli salads. In the middle of this back area are packaged food items like spices, breakfast foods, canned food, pasta and grains, dried fruit and nuts, etc. 


Lastly, Chicago Health Foods store has a small sandwich spot inside and a juice bar. I may be addicted. The sandwich menu is primarily vegan with a seitan sandwich, veggie wrap, housemade black bean burger, and a falafel sandwich. There are vegan smoothies and of course, juices, as well as vegan soft serve (Chicago's own Temptation). The seitan is from Soul Veg and you can add vegan cheeses (they have several different types) like Daiya and local cashew cheese company, Ste Martaen. The seitan sandwich kicks major ass. It comes with a delicious vegan basil aioli (made with Vegenaise). I get it with Ste Martaen cheese to call it a meal. The black bean burger is huge for $5. It's also really good. I come in this place when I don't feel like making a meal for myself and know I'll have a tasty vegan sandwich for lunch!

Seitan Sandwich

Chicago Health Foods store also does monthly lectures and demonstrations. They vary from month to month on the topic, but all are health-conscious related. I recommend you check out this health food store if you are in the Old Town or Gold Coast area!

Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of Soul Vegetarian East

Like many other Groupon users, I waited until the last night to use my Groupon to Soul Vegetarian East Restaurant over on the south side of Chicago. There are a number of soul vegetarian type restaurants on the south side, but this one is the most talked about and the oldest. Other restaurants include: Sistah's Vegan Restaurant, Brother Tim's Vegetarian Fast Food, and Yah's Cuisine. 

Both times I've been to Soul Veg the wait has been awfully long. I will admit the first time was also with a Groupon within a week of it expiring and this last time was the night it expired, so my wait time may have been altered due to that. From reading Yelp reviews, though, it seems like the service is always pretty slow and the servers are rather scatter-brained. 

Aside from the restaurant, there is a juice bar and a take out bar. The take out bar has various kinds of salads, seitan, greens, etc. The juice bar is pretty much your standard juice bar with carrot juices, green juices, and additives of wheatgrass and spirulina.

Before I begin, let me just say that this is southern cooking. It isn't healthy, even if it is vegetarian. A lot of it is fried or it is made of seitan. They do have salads which are pretty awesome. More on that later.

To start, my friends and I split the battered cauliflower. Pretty much most vegetables battered and fried are tasty and the cauliflower didn't disappoint in this aspect. It is definitely something to be split among 3-4 people, though, because it would be too much fried food for just two people. Other appetizers on the menu are more battered things like mushrooms, onion rings, fries, and tidbits (seitan).

We got a side of carrot supreme salad which was absolutely amazing. If you get anything at this restaurant, get this salad. For $4.50, it could have been a meal! It was gigantic and packed full of awesome veggies. We got the creamy garlic dressing with it and I'm thinking they use fresh garlic because it was super garlicky, but the creaminess balanced it out.

For sandwiches, we had the East Coast BBQ Roast Sandwich and the Hand Burger. The BBQ sandwich was as to be expected: messy. They use their signature seitan tidbits and coat them in their own bbq sauce. Overall, it's a good kind of messy sandwich. I'd get this again for sure. My friend had the Hand Burger and he said it's the best veggie burger he's ever had (and he's an omnivore)! It is made out of lentils and various spices. My only problem with the sandwiches are that they come with no sides. It feels a bit like an incomplete meal to just have a sandwich. Of course, you can order a side, but you get what I mean. The last time I was at Soul Veg, I got the gyros and I didn't care for them too much. It was too dry for my taste. They sell their Jerusalem Steak sandwich and Tofu Salad Sandwich at the local Whole Foods here and those are pretty good even pre-packaged. I imagine having them fresh at the restaurant is even better. 

My other friend had the dinner special. This dinner was something like $12 and for that price, there was SO much food. All three of us could have eaten this for dinner and been stuffed. It came with greens, steamed broccoli, breaded tofu (think catfish fillet style), a whopping piece of lasagna, and a choice of soup or salad (he got the soup, bean curd veggie, with fresh cornbread). I've had the greens from Soul Veg before and I always find them a bit too musky from the liquid smoke they use. I only use a pinch of it when I make greens and that may be why (if I even use it). Otherwise, they are perfect. The steamed broccoli was pretty standard, tender and healthy. Now, this breaded tofu business. Wow, you would think it was real breaded catfish strips the way they have it done up. I've never had breaded fish like that in my life (what? I grew up in San Francisco. Fresh fish from the ocean... who breads that?!). One of my friends who was with me is from the south and the other grew up eating breaded catfish and both of them were as impressed as I was with the breaded tofu. They have a breaded tofu sandwich and I bet that thing is amazing. The lasagna was alright. I didn't love it or hate it, but I wouldn't order it again. Just wasn't my thing - something about the taste of it. My friends liked it though. Lastly, the soup and cornbread were really tasty. I've never had bean curd soup before (I've had bean curd in Chinese dishes at restaurants before, though) and this was a great introduction. The cornbread passed the Southerners test from my friend meaning it was pretty damn good.

We had tons of food and took a lot of it home so we couldn't possibly have dessert. I had a Beta Green juice drink from the juice bar, so I suppose that was my dessert (carrot and spirulina juice). They do have soy ice cream and a variety of cakes and pies for dessert, though.

Our fair city of Chicago is blessed with the Vegan Food Truck. It is run by the people over at Ste Martaen (one of the best vegan cheese companies out there, trust!) and Soul Veg. You can get a number of Soul Veg's sandwiches and entree's on the food truck. Also on the truck are goodies from Canary Confectionery, a local vegan baking team. It is run during lunch and dinner hours and their menu changes daily. Find them in the city or request they come to your area through their Twitter account or Facebook account. They also sometimes make Saturday day trips up to Milwaukee. Check their Twitter and Facebook to find out when.

One last note: the Soul Veg mac 'n cheese. Aside from their carrot salad, this stuff is addictive. It is, hands down, the best vegan mac 'n cheese I have ever had. I challenge someone to find a better one. Seriously, this stuff will change your life.

Vegan Chicago: Chicago VeganMania Is This Weekend!

 

Chicago VeganMania is upon us this weekend! This is a great festival put on every year by dedicated volunteers. It is an entirely free event too. This is its third year and the festival has grown bigger and better since its inception in 2009. VeganMania is a great way to meet others in the vegetarian community within Chicago and support local vegan and vegetarian products, companies, and restaurants. It pretty much covers everything from cooking demos, vendors, musical entertainment, a children's area, workshops with speakers, and of course, lots of vegan food to eat! If you live in Chicagoland, please come out to this awesome event. It is sure to be lots of fun!

When: THIS Saturday, November 5th

Time: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Cost: FREE!

Where: Pulaski Park Fieldhouse (in Wicker Park), 1419 W. Blackhawk, Chicago

See you there!

Vegan Chicago: Mercy For Animals Feed-In

This past weekend, I held a feed-in for Mercy For Animals in the Wicker Park area of Chicago. Ste Martaen and the Vegan Food Truck folks helped us out by catering sample sizes of BBQ seitan and vegan mac 'n cheese. The feed-in was pretty successful considering the bitter cold (below freezing!). Not as many people showed up as I had hoped, so we did not have anyone holding our usual colorful banner that reads, "Free Vegan Samples". We had two people passing out the samples with a leafleter near them and then others leafleting the remaining corners of the street cross section.

The food was well received with many people curious about non-dairy mac 'n cheese. One man was quite hesitant but I urged him to just try it out and he was quite surprised that it tasted like "real" mac 'n cheese. His buddies then followed in suit by taking samples as well. Many people also asked where one can get more vegan food like this and of course we told them all about the vegan-friendly options in Chicago. Ste Martaen packaged these samples in a great way. Instead of the activists using gloves and passing out the food, they came in prepackaged containers eliminating this need for gloves and food prep. People could just take a sample, stick it in their pocket, and eat it later if they wanted. This really helped with peoples desire to take the food, I think.

 

Leafleting went well. We passed out more leaflets than food it seemed like totaling 300 MFA Compassionate Choices. Actually, the leafleting went more smoothly than the feed-in aspect of this event. We met a lot of fellow vegetarians and vegans who were excited to see MFA out doing this event.

Overall, great event and thank you for those who came out during this super cold Saturday in Chicago! Also, many thanks to VegFund for funding this feed-in.

For more information on how to host your own feed-in in your city, please check out Mercy For Animals guide. If you live in Chicago and would like to get involved with MFA, please email me at AlexisS@MercyForAnimals.org.

And how could I post an entry about giving away free, delicious BBQ seitan and mac 'n cheese without posting some recipes? For a stellar mac 'n cheese recipe, check out this one on VegWeb. Also, check out my BBQ seitan recipe here. 

Meatout 2011: Chick'n Bacon Ranch Sandwich & Greek Salad

 
Meatout is a worldwide event run by FARM that takes place yearly. From their website, "On (or around) March 20, thousands of caring people in all 50 U.S. states and two dozen other countries get active to host educational events for Meatout- the world's largest grassroots diet education campaign. Activists distribute free food, educate their communities, and ask their friends, families, and neighbors to "kick the meat habit” and explore a wholesome, compassionate diet of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains." 


As a part of the activism for Meatout, they have asked me and many other bloggers to hold an e-event by posting a special recipe on their blog today, March 20th. In honor of this, I decided to make a rather simple but delicious meal.


Chick'n Bacon Ranch Sandwich

* Prep Time: 5 minutes
* Cook Time: 15 minutes
* Ingredients (for sandwich):

• 1 Gardein Chickn Scallopini patty*
• 2 slices of Lightlife veggie bacon*
• 1 romaine lettuce leaf
• 1 slice of vegan cheese*
• 1/4 of avocado, sliced
• 1 bun*
• 1 tbsp vegan ranch (or to taste)

* Ingredients (for ranch):

• 1 cup vegan mayonnaise*
• 1/4 cup almond milk (or to taste)*
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp garlic red wine vinegar

* Recipe (for ranch):

1. Combine all ingredients. Mix well.

* Recipe (for sandwich):

1. In a small skillet, fry the chick'n patty until golden brown on each side.
2. In the same skillet, fry up two slices of veggie bacon until slightly crispy on each side.
3. Again in the skillet, toast the insides of a sliced roll until crispy.
4. Construct the sandwich by bottom bun, lettuce, chick'n, bacon, and cheese. Microwave the sandwich so the cheese melts. Add the avocado and ranch. Top with the remaining half of the bun.

* Note: Gardein is a great all vegan product that can be found in most grocery stores now. I used the Chick'n Scallopini because I wanted to have a "chick'n breast" on my sandwich. One could also have used a Boca chickn patty or another brand. Lightlife makes a vegan bacon that is pretty good. Again, one can find it in many grocery stores. For cheese, I used a local brand of vegan Muenster. The company is called Ste Martaen and they have a great line of cashew cheeses here in Chicago. They also happen to co-run the vegan food truck which is awesome! The bun I used was a ciabatta bun, but feel free to use a hoagie roll or something else. For vegan mayonnaise, I prefer Vegenaise over other brands. Their dressing mayonnaise works so well to make ranch. Lastly, for the milk, feel free to use any non-dairy milk.


Greek Salad

* Prep Time: 10 minutes
* Cook Time: n/a
* Ingredients (for salad):

• 1 small head romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1/2 small red onion, chopped
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup black olives
• 1/3 medium green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/3 medium red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 medium vine tomato, chopped
• 1/3 large cucumber, chopped
• 2 tbsp soy feta*

* Ingredients (for dressing):

• 4-5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 lemon, juice squeezed
• 2 tbsp garlic red wine vinegar

* Recipe (for salad):

1. Chop all the vegetables and combine well in a bowl. Take half the vegetables and place in one bowl, the other half in another bowl.
2. Top with 1 tbsp soy feta on each bowl.
3. Lastly, add the salad dressing to each bowl.

* Recipe (for dressing):

1. Combine the oregano, salt, pepper, lemon, and vinegar in a small bowl. Whisk in the olive until combined.

* Note: For soy feta, I used Sunergia Soyfoods brand. It's pretty good. Feel free to skip this part if you don't want to order it.

Vegetable Couscous Pilaf with Sauteed Baby Vegetables

After a very long hiatus, I am back and ready to cook up a storm! Below is one of my new favorite, tasty, original recipes.

Vegetable Couscous Pilaf with Sauteed Baby Vegetables

* Prep Time: 20 minutes

* Cook Time: 40 minutes

 * Ingredients (for couscous):

• 1 tablespoon soy butter*
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic - minced
• 1/3rd of red onion - chopped
• 1/2 cup of mushrooms - chopped
• 1/3rd cup of peas*
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh chives - chopped
• 1 baby zucchini - chopped
• 2 baby carrots - chopped
• 2 baby squash - chopped (yellow or green)
• dash of onion powder
• dash of thyme
• dash of garlic powder
• dash of garlic salt
• several dashes of black pepper
• several dashes of sea salt
• dash of cumin
• dash of parsley
• dash of caraway
• dash of paparika
• dash of oregano (ground)
• dash of oregano (leaves)
• 1-1 1/2 cups vegetable stock (add more if needed when cooking)
• 1-2 tablespoons of white wine
• 1 package of couscous
• top with soy parmesan (optional)*

* Ingredients (for sauteed baby vegetables):

• 1/2-1 cup of water
• several baby carrots
• several baby zucchini
• several baby squash (green and yellow)
• several baby red potatoes
• several small mushrooms (keep steams on)
• several pieces of asparagus
• 1/3 of red onion - sliced into thin, long pieces
• several green beans (optional)
• 2 tablespoons fresh chives - chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• dash of garlic salt
• dash of onion powder
• dash of garlic powder
• dash of oregano (leaves)
• dash of thyme
• dash of rosemary
• dash of parsley
• several dashes of black pepper
• several dashes of sea salt

* Recipe:

1. Begin with couscous. Place soy butter and olive oil in medium size pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, wait until onions are translucent (about 5 minutes).
2. Add all vegetables and spices to pot with onions and garlic, cook until tender (5-8 minutes).
3. Insert couscous, vegetable stock, and white wine. Keep adding more stock if couscous does not become soft over time. Let cook over medium heat with lid on until couscous is soft (10-15 minutes). Make sure the vegetables and couscous are well mixed together.
4. While couscous is cooking, start on the baby vegetables. Using a large pan, add all baby vegetables, asparagus, green beans (optional), red onion, mushrooms, and water (in small increments). Cover and let steam. Keep checking and adding more water as the vegetables soak it in. Once tender, you are done with this step (5-7 minutes).
5. Keep stirring that couscous while you are working on the baby vegetables so it does not stick to the pot.
6. Add the olive oil, chives, and spices to the pan with baby vegetables. Let them saute for about 5-7 minutes.
7. Once couscous is done, place on plate. Top with the sauteed baby vegetables.
8. Finish with several dashes of soy parmesan (optional).

* Notes: For soy butter, I use the vegan Earth Balance. The peas I used were frozen, feel free to use fresh ones. The best soy parmesan brand I have come across is Galaxy Nutritional Foods Vegan Topping.

I have a many more recipes to add, just do not have time now. More soon, promise!

Quick review: Vegan foodies like myself often are in despair over a good vegan cheese. A long time ago, I decided it simply does not exist. In the last couple months, this local Chicago nut cheese company has proved my vegan cheese woes wrong. Check out Ste Martaen Vegan Cheese. Currently, one can only buy it at Delicious Cafe, located in North Center on 3827 N. Lincoln Ave. Though, rumor has it, they will be selling Ste Martaen at the new, giant Whole Foods in Chicago soon.

This colby nut cheese has become a favorite of mine to use for grilled cheese sandwiches.

Also, check out their smoked gouda cheese and try out this marinated tofu sandwich recipe. Delish!