Vegan Food & Drink Festival

On Sunday I went to the first annual Vegan Food and Drink Festival on Randall’s Island in New York! It was a perfect fall day to enjoy being outside, eat amazing vegan food, make some friends, and spot the occasional YouTube star.

I ventured solo to the festival, and it was nice to do my own thing. I’m glad I got there early because I didn’t have to wait in too many crazy long lines.  There was a great selection of vendors from across the country. Here’s some of the delicious food I ate:

Buffalo Cauliflower Pizza from Screamer’s Pizzeria

Loaded Kimchi Fries from Bao Shoppe (kinda weird, not my favorite)

Arlo’s (Austin, TX) Cheeseburger – THE BEST BURGER I’VE HAD. Worth the wait.

Can’t go wrong with some delicious Van Leeuwen’s vegan ice cream. These are the chocolate and mint chip flavors!

My Vegan Protein Smoothie

Today I’m sharing the recipe for a vegan green protein smoothie I consistently make. It’s modified from recipes I’ve seen online and I just mix and match ingredients I have in my kitchen.  This smoothie is my go-to if I need to reboot after a not-so-healthy weekend, or if I don’t have much time to cook a meal. It’s filling, tastes great, and has simple ingredients with a balance of fruits, veggies, healthy fats and a scoop of protein powder!

I switch up the fruit I use, depending on what I have on hand, but I always add bananas so it’s creamy and thick. Simply add all the ingredients below to a blender (I use a Magic Bullet), blend, and enjoy!

• 1 scoop plant-based protein powder
• 1 scoop of Snergy Natural 100% Super Greens
  • Contains spirulina, chlorella, barley grass and wheat grass
• 1 banana
• 1-2 handfuls of spinach
• Fruit, either frozen or fresh (sometimes it’s strawberries, blueberries, apples, etc.)
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1 tsp ground flax seed

 

NYC: First, Food

I’m in New York City !!! Wow it’s been a fun and busy first month here. I love my apartment, I have a short walk to work, there’s so much to do here, and so much amazing food around every corner…

There are an abundance of options for vegans in this city, and you know I’ve starred the map like crazy and already been to my fair share of places. Here are some notables:

Browns Bagels & Brooklyn Bagel and Coffee Company

I’d never had tofu cream cheese before moving and it’s SO GOOD! Honestly tastes just like dairy cream cheese, and it’s available in so many places. I even saw that Chef Chloe went to the Brooklyn Bagel location recently!

Bare Burger

I didn’t make it to the Chicago location after it opened, but I made sure to stop here my first weekend in New York! I ordered the Guadalupe which is a black bean patty with guacamole, and their sweet potato fries are BOMB. This place is tailored for meat eaters and vegans, with plenty of options for everyone.

The Little Beet Table

 

Another restaurant with a Chicago location that I didn’t go to. Their menu is light and healthy and their easily able to accommodate any diet. My mom and I shared the cauliflower hummus with gluten free bread, she had a shrimp salad and I had a quinoa and vegetable bowl!

Citizens of Chelsea

My downstairs neighbor (not kidding) is the cutest Australian cafe! Everything is Tiffany blue, the hosts have accents, and the space is adorable. I often wonder how many avocados they go through each day because they serve a lottttt of avocado toast. My roommate and I are currently striving to become regulars here. I’ll let you know how long it takes.

The Grey Dog

Ok ok, last one for now. A friend and I went to the Grey Dog for a casual Sunday dinner. They have a few locations around the city, and the one is Chelsea has a very homey feel. I was excited to try it when I saw they have vegan carbonara, as well as several other great vegan options. This first time (because I will be back) I had the vegan avocado pesto linguini and it was amazing! The only thing I didn’t like was it had a ton of oil, they could probably cut down on the sauce, but my god it was creamy and hot. My friend got the vegan burger and said it was also great!

Many more food adventures to follow, but I’ll keep mixing it up until then.

Happy Summer

I hope everyone had a fun Memorial Day weekend and start to summer! I was lucky to have a few additional days off and I took advantage of the beautiful weather in Chicago. I did a lot of eating and drinking around the city and crossed a lot of stuff off my bucket list! Here’s what we did:

(Finally!) had dinner and drinks at 3 Arts Club Cafe at Restoration Hardware.

Enjoyed vegan brunch at Handlebar in Wicker Park. We all shared vegan fried pickles with ranch dip that were AMAZING! I definitely want to go back.

Did some rooftop hopping including the Cabana Club and Chop Shop in Wicker Park.

Tried Goddess and the Baker coffee and sat along the river. (Highly recommend – thanks to Chickpea in the City)

Went back to Pick Me Up Cafe for a little (lot of) hangover food in Wrigleyville.

And Monday we finished off the weekend with brunch at Hub 51 and a cookout on a friend’s rooftop in Lakeview.

Talk about a great weekend! Needless to say I needed a little bit of a reset after all the food and alcohol, but it was such a great start to summer! I’m hoping to jam pack the rest of my weekends here with this many fun activities.

How did you all spend your Memorial Day Weekend?

Eats // March & April

Sharing my recent food adventures in the city, and there’s quite the variety this time around – I tried Indian food, went to both casual and more upscale Asian places, and a new American health food spot downtown. Let me know your thoughts!

1//. Four Belly

• huge menu with a lot of variety
• *vegan options!!*
• BYOB – like almost every other Asian place in the city, woohoo!

2//. Royal Indian Grill

• right next door to Four Belly
• first time trying Indian and will definitely be back!
• great service, delicious food
• *vegan and gluten-free options clearly labeled*

3//. Sunda

• visited a few times now, never disappoints
• trendy scene with great drinks and presentation of food is on point
• separate menus for all your dietary and allergy needs (insert thumbs up emoji here)

We started with drinks and the legendary Crispy Brussels Sprout salad (the vegan version).

This is just the sushi we ordered – Nigiri, sweet potato caterpillar (NOM), and the garden roll. We ended the night with their vegan coconut sorbet and it was AMAZING. It was so creamy and had actual pieces of coconut in every bite.

4//. True Food Kitchen

• an excellent new addition to the health food scene in Chicago
• you can’t go wrong with anything on the menu – including drinks
• fast service, flexible options like vegan and gluten-free
• the ambiance is bright and open (they even have an open kitchen to watch what they’re cooking)

 

 

Stay tuned for my next round of recent eats… whenever that may be. Conquering the food scene in Chicago, one spot at a time.

Any and all recommendations are welcome :)