November 2011
60 posts
Having My Christmas Pancakes...
Guess what? The food was calling me again. Yes, this loveable vegan food blogger was hearing voices once again. I happened to see a picture posted on Facebook of one Chef Mayra’s latest creations at Pura Vida. It was a stack of reddish pancakes covered in all kinds of wonderful. They looked amazing…and I was staring at the screen I heard this soft, feminine voice say, “We...
“How can man be possessed of kindness who, to increase his own flesh, eats the...”
– Red Indian Chief (1854)
Sometimes Only Pizza Will Do
That is true…there are certain cravings that come on you and some are very specific in their calling. Like pizza. It has its own calling and when it calls you better know where to go to get it…because it does not let up easily. Now you can always make it…which I love to do. But sometimes you are out and about and you just can’t wait. I have visited and blogged about a...
“Cruelty to animals is as if humans did not love God.”
– Cardinal John Henry Newman
Crispy California Avocado Tacos
I have loved The Border Grill at Mandalay Bay for years. Since becoming a vegan the options have been very limited. That has certainly curtailed the dining experience there. Well, as we well know, a day is dawning and vegan meal options are finding their way onto restaurant menus all around town. Now The Border Grill has a meal to rival them all with its sheer inventiveness and...
“Humanity’s true moral test, its fundamental test…consists of its...”
– Milan Kundera, The Unbelievable Lightness of Being, 1984
Portobello Mushroom Piccata
Ever since I had the wonderful vegan Portobello Mushroom Piccata at Vintner Grill in Summerlin, I have been thinking about recreating it at home. I found a great recipe for Gardein Chick’n Piccata in one of my favorite cookbooks, The Conscious Cook, by Tal Ronnen and I decided to adapt that and use portobello mushrooms instead. The Vintner dish had a great spaghetti squash side with it but...
“I won’t eat anything that has intelligent life, but I’d gladly eat a...”
– Marty Feldman (actor/comedian)
Eating in the Raw
Okay…not what you think. Shame on you…or shame on me (smiles) for phrasing it that way…but it was time once again to sample one of the prepared raw vegan food items at Whole Foods Market. I look at their prepared foods as wonderful fast foods. You select, you pay, you sit, you enjoy. Even when taking time to actually chew your food you can be in and out in no time and on your...
“In all the round world of utopia there is no meat. There used to be. But now we...”
– H.G. Wells
Red Velvet Friday
Sorry, Black Friday is not for me. There is so much I could say about this…but this is not the space to do it. Instead, I think I will make it a Red Velvet Friday. That sounds like something much more in line with what I like. And what is there not to like about the Red Velvet Cafe? Great food and desserts and they can do almost everything on the menu vegan. It can’t be much more...
“If a man wants freedom, why keep birds and animals in cages? Truly man is the...”
– Leonardo Da Vinci
So Thankful For Pura Vida
There was really no doubt in my mind where I wanted to have my pre-Thanksgiving meal or which restaurant that I wanted to have be a part of my blog on Thanksgiving. The place that I was most thankful for this year on so many levels and what it has done to contribute to the celebration of kind, delicious, creative plant-based eating here in Las Vegas…is Pura Vida. This restaurant and the...
“We pray on Sundays that we may have light to guide our footsteps on the path we...”
– George Bernard Shaw
“When we kill animals to eat them, they end up killing us because their flesh,...”
– William C. Roberts, M.D., editor of the American Journal of Cardiology
A Little Italian Fast Food
I really do not do fast food…unless it is a vegan-friendly meal at Rubio’s, Chipotle, or a place like that where the ingredients are fresh and the meal is made to order for you. So when I came across Fazoli’s…who advertise themselves as fast, fresh, and Italian…I was intrigued. If it was a matter of having the time I know of many, many places where I can satisfy my...
“I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a...”
– Abraham Lincoln, 16th President
Loving Le Thai...
It is no secret that I love what is going on in downtown Las Vegas. New energy and life with First Friday. Bar+Bistro rocking it in the heart of the Arts District. Downtown hi-rises at full capacity. Hotels being revitalized. Old Neon being brought back to life. The Smith Center for the Arts about to open. One of the greenest City Hall buildings in the country about to be finished. One of...
Getting My Ma Po On at P.F. Changs
I have actually been wanting to go to P.F. Changs…I used to go there ALL the time. But I have not been there in a while so when some friends asked me to tag along for lunch I gladly did so…part for the company, and part for the food. I have had the vegetarian lettuce wraps with tofu there before and enjoyed them very much. I was looking forward to giving something from the...
“To be persuasive, we must be believable; to be be believable, we must be...”
– Edward R. Murrow
Some Gratitude Food
Someone once joked that a vegetarian or vegan was a person who ate only side dishes. Now we all know that is a somewhat limited viewpoint of things. It is so much more than that. That being said…who doesn’t love a great side dish. For my blog this morning I decided to share a couple of recipes that might add something to any holiday meal that you were having.
The Soyrizo-Cornbread...
“Basically, the reason I’m vegan is because when I was about 16 or 17, I...”
– Daniel Johns, Musician
Super Mex and Something Late
What to do when it is late and you are off the strip and want something to eat? We are fortunate to live in a town where there are many options between off-strip casinos and many pubs and eateries. Something more than just fast food. Craving something a little south of the border? That is where Super Mex comes into focus.
Super Mex is chain of restaurants that started in Southern California in...
“If present trends of meat-eating continue, then by 2050 the world’s...”
– Colin Tudge, Award-winning Science Writer
I'm at Chili's...What Do I Do Now?
Well…it looks as though I can finally eat. At least more than chips and salsa and guacamole. I love it when I get a great tip about a new vegan-friendly menu item at a restaurant. I get excited about that on a number of different levels. One is that it is another sign of a “shift” that is beginning to take place. Conscious eating is beginning to take hold. Another is that it...
“Some say vegetarianism is an alternative diet, but it is the original diet, the...”
– James Marcus
Pineapple Curry at Thai Chili
There are not too many Thai restaurants that I do not like. Of course I do not try everything on the menu but stick within the areas of curries and vegetable stir-frys with some tofu mixed in. Some peanut sauce whenever possible. Spiced on the side of hot. You know I have my favorite and yet there are some others that provide wonderful vegan menu options no matter where you might live. Thai...
“There is no disease, bodily or mental, which adoption of vegetable diet and pure...”
– Perce Bysshe Shelley
Settebello's is My Pizza Perfection
I feel a need for confession. It will not necessarily be a revelation. I love to make pizza. I love to eat pizza. I love to find the best and also kindest pizza possible as I search for great vegan meals to enjoy. I think there are some great pizzas out there to be fully enjoyed. But for my time, money, and pure enjoyment…none of them compare to Settebello. This wonderful pizzeria in...
“Martin Luther King taught us all nonviolence. I was told to extend nonviolence...”
– Dick Gregory
“You are the embodiment of the information you choose to accept and act upon. To...”
– Adlin Sinclair
A Little Pot of Comfort
‘Dear Mr. Wynn…I was not expecting to be back in the company of of one of your restaurants so quickly, but sometimes things just work out wonderfully. I wanted somewhere nice to meet a friend for lunch and the Wynn was where I thought we should go. I had been to La Cave once before and I knew they were open for lunch and it was such a beautiful day that I though sitting out on the...
“I know of no more beautiful prayer than that which the Hindus of old used in...”
– Shopenhauer
Hot & Spicy at Bratalian
I was in another one of those moods. You know the ones. You want something and you will keep driving until you find it. Good thing for me that I did not have to drive too far. I was in the mood for something…hot…something…spicy…something Italian. No, I am not talking about the new Fiat 500…although they are darn sexy. Of course, I was referring to food. What...
Coconut Nog French Toast
This might appear to be a commercical of sorts for So Delicious…but truly, when something is so delicious, and is made in a kind manner with no animal products, why would you not want to talk about it? I will just say that I love the So Delicious brand of non-dairy items. They are responding to a demand in the marketplace for quality plant-strong products with some wonderful items that...
“Fur used to turn heads, now it turns stomachs.”
– Rue McClanahan
“A fat paunch never breeds fine thoughts.”
– Brother Jerome
Hitting The Taco Bar at WFM
Sometimes it just comes down to this…what am I in the mood for? A guy has to eat…and I certainly eat well, but I truly eat kindly. My blog is highlighting 365 days and 365 vegan meals here in Las Vegas and I am having a terrific time doing it. Some days I am on a mission to try a place and try a dish on my list. Other times…what does Paul feel like eating? And...
The Ball Bounces Back To Ping Pong
When my co-workers Michael and Ashley invited me out to lunch I was only hesitant because I was not planning to eat right at that moment. But when they said that they were going to one of my favorite places to eat…Ping Pong…well I started to have body parts begin to quiver and I knew that I would now be going to lunch. Ping Pong is where this blog adventure began…but my love...
“I know what it feels like to be hurt, and I don’t want to cause that pain...”
– Alicia Silverstone
A Bow to the Great Bao
Sometimes I hear a buzz about a restaurant before it opens. Other times it happens after it has been open a while, some have written about it, but more importantly to me…I hear others talking about it and encouraging you to try it. This was the case with The Great Bao on W. Tropicana near Decatur. The unusual thing about The Great Bao has not so much to do with the food but that it is...
“People get offended by animal rights campaigns. It’s ludicrous. ...”
– Richard Gere
Greens & Proteins = Vegan Smiles
There is a new kid in town…or should I say restaurant…on Eastern Ave. near the 215 that is bringing a fresh and exciting dining concept to the Las Vegas/Henderson area. Greens & Proteins is a bright and cheerful, healthy kitchen and juice bar that does seem to have a little bit of something for everyone. Vegetarians and vegans included. I have been eagerly awaiting there opening...
“I’m a vegetarian. I don’t eat animals, so I won’t wear them...”
– Leona Lewis
“You ask people why they have deer heads on the wall. They always say, because...”
– Ellen DeGeneres
Called To Breakfast at Pura Vida
I remember mornings growing up. My mother would wake me for school and ask me what I wanted for breakfast. She was amazing and unusual in that she did the same thing for my other brothers and sometimes we didn’t all want the same thing. And that was okay with her. She was a loving, hard-working, and a creative woman who wanted to give us this gift before she headed off to work and we...
Brilliance at Botero
‘Dear Mr. Wynn…it has been a few weeks and I hope that you are doing extraordinarily well. I just had cause to write you once again after a splendid vegan meal at Botero. I know that you are a great art lover and collector and I can only imagine how proud you are of this beautiful restaurant in the Encore that it centered around prominent works of the famous Columbian artist Fernando...
“The thinking man must oppose all cruel customs no matter how deeply rooted in...”
– Albert Schweitzer
Vegan Belly Bombs
For those of you that have known me back spanning the decades…you will certainly remember the Belly Bombs. It was in the starter section of a couple of cookbooks that I put together and many people lovingly adopted this simple recipe as their own. I am not sure exactly what it is about these Belly Bombs but I guess a slice is just instant comfort food. Very easy to prepare as a snack for...
“I’ve been a vegetarian for about 10 years. And it is really due to the...”
– Linda Blair 