Vegan eats at a crawfish boil! And more!

A couple weeks ago, some friends from the Memphis Hash House Harriers hosted their annual crawfish boil, and you'd think there wouldn't be much there for me to eat. But there was! The hosts did a separate veggie boil for the vegans with potatoes, brussels, green beans, mushrooms, and pineapple (yes, seems odd mixed with Cajun spices, but it worked!). Plus, the red beans and rice that everyone ate was vegan!

Here's a tasty curry from Isa Does It! I made the Bhindi Masala with blackeyed peas, okra, and a thick curry sauce, served over basmati rice and topped with unsweetened yogurt.

With every grocery trip lately, I've been picking up one bag of frozen stir-fry veggies for a super-quick weeknight meal. Some nights, I just don't have time to cook a recipe. But there's usually always time to air-fry some tofu and saute with frozen veggies.

And here's a mix and match vegan burger trio from Slider Inn. Got the No Beef, No Problem slider (Impossible burger), the Buffalo Chick'n slider, and the Vegan Triple B (beet, black beans, and brown rice). All with vegan cheese! Also just note: If you're local or visiting and go to Slider, that white stuff is mayo, and it's not vegan, but it comes with every order. Ask them to bring you some vegan ranch instead!

Oh hey, I'm back with more food!

Oops! I guess I let a month go by without a post. Sorry about that. Things got busy, and then I got so behind with posting that the thought of going through my food photos seemed overwhelming. But here are a few things I've eaten lately. 

We'll start with this tasty Kung Pao Tofu Rice Bowl at Good Fortune. Had this on Friday night, and I've now eaten all of the things on Good Fortune's menu. I wasn't sure what to expect from this, and I put off ordering it because I'm always craving ramen when I'm there. But it was so good! Will definitely be getting this again.

I've been eating at Sen Trang a lot lately (we're calling it Faux Binh now since it replaced Pho Binh!), and this Tofu Vermicelli Bowl was exactly the same as it was when Pho Binh was serving it. I've been continually impressed with how well Sen Trang has recreated Pho Binh's recipes.

Here's a tasty Curried Tofu Peanut Bowl from Isa Does It. I pulled Isa Does It off the shelf recently and made a few things. Love this book, but it's been awhile since I've used it.

I also made these Muffin Tin Omelets from Isa Does It. These have been a fun grab-and-go breakfast. And yummy with a side of kale.

Bluff City Vegan Eats: Sen Trang

Back in December, I posted a sad goodbye to Memphis' most-beloved Vietnamese restaurant, Pho Binh. After 20 years, the family who owned this very vegan-friendly spot decided to call it quits, as the mother was ready to retire. When they posted about their closing, Memphis had a meltdown, and in their last two days — one of which was Christmas Eve — they were slammed with orders. We all thought we were saying goodbye to Pho Binh's famous lemongrass tofu forever.

But as customers picked up their last takeout orders, Pho Binh family members assured us that they were sharing their recipes with the family who bought the space. So, there was some hope that we'd be able to enjoy our Pho Binh faves again. But how close would the meals be to the real thing? Well, Sen Trang, the new restaurant, opened last weekend ...

And I'm happy to report the Lemongrass Tofu is exactly the same! That was Pho Binh's most popular dish, and it's long been my fave. It's naturally fish-sauce-free, and it's seriously the best lemongrass tofu you'll ever eat. I've been enjoying the leftovers for days!

I also got a couple orders of Tofu Spring Rolls, and they were also perfect. They come stuffed with fried tofu puffs, fresh tomato, Thai basil (which I pick out), lettuce, and rice noodles, and they're served with tasty peanut sauce.

I can't wait to go back and try my other Pho Binh faves at Sen Trang. The menu is largely the same as Pho Binh's with a few new additions. But next up for me will be the Tofu Pho, another classic!

Burgers and Pizza!

Slider Inn is one of my favorite places for vegan options, and they've recently added another vegan item to their already-big menu. These Buffalo Chicken Sliders with vegan cheese are SO GOOD. I tried them recently, and since it was brunch time, they offered the option of hash browns on the side instead of fries. It was my first time trying those, and they were really tasty.

My hasher friends Will and Grace hosted a backyard barbecue at their house last Friday, and even though they're not vegan, they made sure to have lots of veg options. Grace grilled Beyond Burgers and even had vegan cheese, and a bunch of friends brought vegan sides. Love my friends so much!

Speaking of those friends, some other hasher friends got together a couple Sundays ago for a full moon ritual, and Adam made Vegan Pizza in his outdoor pizza oven. He used Miyoko's pourable mozz, and this just may have been the best pizza I've ever had. Those pizza ovens are amazing!

And finally, here's a Flatbread Pineapple Pizza that I made last week. It's from Tabitha Brown's Cooking by the Spirit, and it's loaded with veggies and pineapple. I'm a big fan of sweet and savory. Another fun addition was the Everything Bagel seasoning. 

Bluff City Vegan Eats: Molly's La Casita

Molly's La Casita has been around for ages, and it's long been a favorite spot of mine for a margarita. But I recently discovered their new-ish, massive vegan menu. I say "new-ish," because they added vegan options a couple years ago, but the options have grown. And now there's a full page of vegan items, including these Impossible Enchiladas!

I went there a couple weeks ago with some friends and finally explored that big menu. They also have Impossible chalupas, a vegan taco salad with Impossible meat and vegan cheese, a plant-based pork taco dinner, Impossible burritos, veggie-stuffed enchiladas, Impossible burgers, and vegan stuffed spuds. There's even a cashew chili con queso. 

These enchiladas are stuffed with a spicy Impossible ground burger and topped with a savory ranchero sauce. You can pick your sides, so I opted for the refried beans and steamed broccoli. You can also choose from black beans and a house salad on the side.

This is great news since most Mexican places aren't very vegan-friendly. I will definitely be back to try the whole menu!

Avo Sweet Tater Toasts & a Vegan Omelet

I made another winner from Tabitha Brown's Cooking from the Spirit book last week. These Sweet Potato Avocado Toasts use baked sweet potato slices in place of bread, and they're topped with avocado, pico de gallo, pumpkin seeds, and Kelly's lemon pepper parm. Tab uses Kelly's in a lot of her recipes, and it's always a staple in my pantry.

Here's an easy and not-very-pretty Just Egg Omelet. I was out of spray oil, so I used some olive oil instead and it didn't cover the pan quite as well as spray oil. So the veggie and Chao cheese-stuffed omelet came out looking a little like scrambled eggs. Still tasted great! Avocado toast with Trader Joe's black garlic on the side.

And here's a super-quick week night dinner before kickball last week. I opened a can Trader Joe's Giant Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce and served them cold with some Air-Fried Asparagus (topped with that Kelly's seasoning). The beans had Mediterranean-style seasonings and were very flavorful. Will definitely buy again!

Ostara Eats!

The Spring Equinox, also called Ostara, was Tuesday, and it's a holiday traditionally celebrated with eggs. But that's a no-go for me. Thankfully, Just Egg is back on shelves after a brief shortage. So, I made the Blue Cheese & Mushroom Quiche from the Llewelyn's Witches' Datebook Calendar, but I subbed Just Egg for the eggs and Violife Feta for the blue cheese.

I have purchased a vegan blue cheese at Sprouts before, but they were out. Still, I think this Violife feta is closer to the crumbly texture of dairy blue cheese, so it was probably better here anyway. I made a homemade pie crust (not the prettiest but very flaky and buttery), and that was filled with sauteed mushrooms, onions, and garlic and sprinkled with the feta. Then I just poured a whole carton of Just Egg over the fillings and baked until it set.

So good! This was one of those meals I'm glad I have multiple servings of. On the side, I made the Oven Fries with Scotch Dipping Sauce (vegan mayo, dijon, and vegan honey) from the Llewelyn's Sabbats Almanac (a different book with seasonal witchy recipes).