Pixelfragment

Alright, I admit it, I LOVE junk food. As a vegan it can be a little challenge to sit with pure junk food and pig out. I am not talking about sunflower seeds or dried fruit, I want stuff that I am not supposed to have.

I recently took advantage of a trip back to Austin and bought me a whole lot of gluttonous goodies. After lunch at Veggie Heaven on Guadalupe and MLK, I swung up to Wheatsville Co-op and did a little grubbin. I got a great lemon bar, probably the best-tasting I have had, vegan or otherwise. I stocked up on something you can’t find in San Antonio (for some odd reason), meatless Jerky. They have an entire rack at the checkout for Jerky alone. I dropped a couple of Abraham’s just on jerky. My fav was Tofurkey Peppered jerky.

Later on that evening I stopped by Bouldin Creek Cafe again for a Soy Mocha and a "Brownie Cake Thingy" (if I am remembering the name right). The coffee was fine, but I should have added the third shot. The cake-thingy was tasty. I especially enjoyed the little morsels of chocolate mousse throughout the desert.

Fav Junk Food

What is on my top list? Let’s have a little look-see:

• Purely Decadent Soy Iced Cream
• Tofurky Meatless Jerky
• Chocolate: nearly any vegan option I can find, I eat. Among my fav’s are Whole Foods truffles (seasonal), and Newman’s Dark Orange Chocolate bar
• Chips, Julio’s brand corn tortilla chips
• Cake. anytime. anywhere.

So, what’s on your list?

1501 S First
Austin, Texas 78704
(512) 416-1601
http://www.bouldincreek.com
Vegetarian/Vegan freindly

Okay, I think I have a new fav. Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse is a cool little shack on 1st street in Austin that has a lot to offer. Their menu is pretty large and according to it "Almost everything can be made vegan." Sweet. Automatic bonus points in my book.

After perusing the menu for a while, I decided to get the Summer Sammich. I added hummus and tofu bacon, which brought my meal to @7.00. It was a good sign that the meal would be filling when the cashier couldn’t properly close the lid to my box because it was so full.

I couldn’t wait to dig in when I got to the hotel. And my anticipation was well placated by a great meal. The "sammich" was a good size, salsa and chips were plentiful. The sandwich had an amazing chipotle pesto, which I could have just eaten all by itself. The hummus was equally tasty.
Now, I have never had tofu bacon but I was glad that I added it to my meal. I don’t normally go for lemony salsa, but this salsa was well balanced with a smokey flavor. The salsa was very savory.

Bouldin Creek is definitely going to be a regular stop when I am in Austin. It is a very good find and I hope it stays around for a long time to come.
Now, if they could only update their website…

Casa de Luz
1701 Toomey Road
Austin, Texas 78704
http://casadeluz.org
completely vegan

The first thing I noticed about this beautifully simple restaurant is nothing. No salt on the tables, no ice in the iced tea, no sweetener for the beverages. Well, honestly that was the second thing I noticed. Walking into the area where the restaurant is, I couldn’t help but feel more relaxed and at a slower pace. The path to Casa was laden with mini Zen meditation areas. Bamboo lined the path and the hanging lights shown just bright enough to guide me to the front door.

Opening the door did not let me down either. The dining area was wide open with high ceilings and lit just as well as the path outside. I paid for myself, found a seat and went to serve myself some soup and salad. The soup was unlabeled, but my guess is that it was a potato curry soup. Turns out that it was Indian Butternut Squash soup. It was very light and the flavor was pleasant and mild.

My plate was brought to me as I ended my soup. I was served Garbanzo and pinto hummus, Leafy greens with black olive walnut* basil tapanade, Spelt crust pizza w/carrot cream, arugula and Walnut* pesto, w/saute’ed cremini mushrooms. The entire meal was good. The hummus had a little cumin which added a lot to the flavor. It wasn’t lemony like a lot of recipes I have had. The pizza was a little different, but I guess I’ll attribute it to my never having eaten spelt bread before.

I have to say that I was quite at ease with my experience. Everyone was laid back, and friendly. The restaurant itself made me feel like I needed more self reflection and quite time.

In the beginning, I missed the salt, but in the end I found that there is much more to food and eating if I just take a moment to pause.

Well. Being green in San Antonio is kind of an oxymoron. As large as this city is, it is years behind others in it’s progressive thinking and open minded culture.

This February a new (in fact the only) vegetarian and vegan restaurant opened here. I was totally excited and really upbeat about the whole thing. I have simply learned to cook and eat at home since there are very few options for me.
I was a little disappointed with my first go round at Green.

The atmosphere is very nice. Guests can sit in either of two sections, or in a larger patio. The weather was great so I chose to eat outdoors.

The food arrived very quickly. I was a little disappointed to see the serving was much smaller than the dish on display. I ordered "Sesame Chicken" from the daily special. The wheat chicken substitute was fine. The breading was good, though the flavor was a little on the salty side. The fresh green beans were overcooked and on the limp side. The bed of rice was more like a pillow of rice.
The dish was served with a sauce that looked like soy. It tasted horrid. There was an intense smoky flavor to it. It seemed more like it belonged as part of a marinade, but not as a main sauce.

I always feel hungry after eating at Green. The portions never seem to satisfy. Of course this is probably a ploy to get us wanting cake- the carrot cake is great and amazingly vegan.
I give Green San Antonio a favorable rating

Green San Antonio
1017 N. Flores
San Antonio, TX 78212
http://greensanantonio.com/
210-320-5865