hey guys! over the weekend i had the honor of being interviewed on Good Food’s very first all vegetarian show on KCRW. they asked me to talk about some of my favorite restaurants in Los Angeles where omnivores could get acquainted with excellent vegan food. listen up to learn about my top picks and where the name “quarrygirl” comes from.
also, in the same show, Good Food sat down with my pal Tony Yanow (owner of Tony’s Darts Away, Mohawk Bend, and Golden Road Brewery; co-organizer of LA Vegan Beer Fest) to talk about what makes beer vegan. check it out and don’t forget to buy tickets to this week’s LA Vegan Beer Fest!
For the entire Good Food vegetarian show, click here.
in case you haven’t heard the news already, the LA Vegan Beer Fest has gotten so big that we had to move it across the street from The Roxy to a vacant lot on Sunset. we are going to have more food vendors and more beers than ever before, so don’t miss what’s sure to be the most epic event of the year!
today’s episode of quarrygirl presents features m cafe de chaya, my favorite spot in los angeles to get decadent yet healthy food. the restaurant focuses on contemporary macrobiotic cuisine, and other than fish, the entire menu is vegan. whether you’re craving a hearty burger, a slap up breakfast, or something light like sushi or salad, m cafe has it all. we caught up with chef lee gross to talk about healthy eating and the best dishes for everyone at m cafe. check it out!
technique aside, the carrot dog blew my mind. it was soft and flavorful with vegetable toppings, spicy mustard and sriracha ketchup (!), served on a fluffy bun. a word to the vegans: only the parker bun and gluten-free bun are suitable for us. the others contain egg or dairy.
get ye to farmers market and try this thing. just trust me.
i’m super excited because today’s video is on our favorite pub in los angeles, tony’s darts away. many of you are probably familiar with the numerous meatless sausage options at tony’s…but did you know about the long list of inventive rotating daily specials, most of which are vegan? we caught up with chef randy st. clair and learned how he makes traditional meat offerings vegan, as well as his favorite vegetable based dishes. if you haven’t been to tony’s darts away yet, definitely check it out. the food and beer cannot be beat.
totally obsessed with this recipe. it’s super simple. all you do is dump ingredients into a bread machine and hit start, and three hours later you have delicious turkey-flavored seitan. give it a shot!
VEGAN GIRL SCOUT COOKIES! a public service announcement.
hey guys! i just wanna make a quick little public service announcement on how to find vegan girl scout cookies. as you may or may not know, girl scouts of america get their cookies from one of two bakeries—-little brownies (which has no vegan options) and abc (which has a few vegan options). if you find girl scouts selling abc cookies, the thin mints, peanut butter patties, thanks-a-lot and lemonades are all animal free. SCORE.
for a quick and easy way to tell which bakery the cookies are from, pay attention to the cookie names. little brownies brands their peanut butter cookies as “tag-a-longs” while abc calls them “peanut butter patties”…therefore if you run into girl scouts selling “peanut butter patties”, you are good to go. however, if they’re selling “tag-a-longs”, you are outta luck.
unfortunately the girl scouts in LA get their cookies from little brownie bakers, but vegan cookies can be found just south in orange county where abc is the bakery of choice. my friend david who lives down there was kind enough to send me a few boxes of thin mints and thanks-a-lots, and i’m kinda freaking out. they’re so good, just like i remember, and i haven’t eaten girl scout cookies in over ten years. if you feel like making the trip to the OC to buy some of these babies, you can use this super convenient tool called the girl scout cookie stalker to find out where girls will be selling cookies.
now go stalk some girl scouts and stock up on thin mints!
VIDEO: vegan raspberry rice crispy treats with clara’s cakes!
heyo! today’s episode of quarrygirl presents is a recipe video with one of our favorite people, local teenage baking sensation clara polito of clara’s cakes!
people may not realize it, but due to ingredients like butter and gelatin, traditional rice crispy treats aren’t vegan…or even vegetarian! in this video clara shows us how to make cruelty-free raspberry rice crispy treats that taste even better than the original using vegan substitutes like earth balance and dandies.
watch and learn, and be sure to hit up clara’s cakes for treats next time you’re in LA.
get vegan donuts this weekend from clara’s cakes!!
this weekend just got a whole lot better because clara’s cakes added donuts to the menu at their sunday atwater village farm pop-up event. it has a valentine’s day theme, so you’ll be able to get heart pocket pies, chocolate caliente cookie sandwiches, red velvet cupcakes, and now…DONUTS! vegan donuts are pretty hard to come by in LA, and clara’s are incredible, so you don’t wanna miss this pop up!
so excited about the upcoming launch of dairy tree, a brand new vegan cheese made right here in LA!
their first release is going to be bleu cheese, which makes me super stoked because i have never tasted a decent version of that. i know people who have sampled dairy tree, and i have heard nothing but rave reviews. plus the chef behind it is sara from the vegan spot, and if you guys remember that place, they had the best vegan cheese in the land.be sure to sign up for updates!!!
