Savory and Sweet.

Pumpkin Chickpea Fritters from Lunchboxbunch, with vegan herb cream: Easy, savory, I even made a breakfast sandwich out of my leftovers.

Vegan Snickers and Twix from Pure Fare, healthy candy bars that taste richer than the originals...

Raw Gingerbread with Lemon Glaze from Vegan Culinary Crusade...also better than the original!If you make one thing this weekend, make it this. Incredible and best served warm from the dehydrator. I dehydrated at 105 degrees for 5 hours.

Lithe Goodies.

It's so refreshing to have inspired options during a season where we are confronted by sugar-laden and heavy foods that make us want to take a nap.

I've been enjoying my fair share of Lithe Foods lately, the "lean, local, seasonal" line of foods from Lithe Method, that are available at both the Old City and Rittenhouse locations. I usually grab pressed juice, lunch and snacks from the studio whenever I go. It's convenient, I know it's healthy and vegan and comprised of ingredients that I will feel good about, and it will keep me energized through a busy day of work.

Lucky for me, Lithe Method let me sample some of their fall foods (there's pumpkin, sweet potato, and apple everything right now) and here are two of the items that I'll be snacking on this Halloween weekend.

The Lithe Lemonade: Carrot Ginger is a kicky, gingery way to take lemonade into the fall, plus it gets bonus points for being orange. The Apple Chips with Pumpkin Cream and Raw Caramel are far superior to the apple chips you buy at the store. They practically melt in your mouth and the cream? It's worth doing lunges for.

Other fall faves that I've tasted include the Harvest Apple Quinoa, the Oat Cakes with Pumpkin Almond Cream & Raw Caramel, and the Sweet Potato Spring Rolls with Black Bean Sauce. The Spring Rolls are a taste of Thanksgiving fusion at its finest.

Now I need to decide which class to pair those spring rolls with.

Weekend in Ithaca.

Put the things we love in one town. Wine, vegan food, yoga, farmers markets, hills, waterfalls, whiskey, composting, baked goods, Cambodian food, pumpkins, co-ops, free parking after 5pm, smart coffee, hospitality, getting lost, learning something. That was Ithaca.

I didn't know there was a beef sign behind me.

Josh was fully prepped for his interview at Cornell and we came into town wondering if this was a place we could live for a year if all went well...

Well? I went home with the t-shirt.

Hot Chocolate...

My raw chocolate bar crawl continues with Gnosis Chocolate. Once you discover the intensity of raw chocolate, regular chocolate does not compare. Which is why I will seek out raw chocolate wherever I can and a trip to New York always results in me dragging whoever I'm with to Organic Avenue for the next chocolate haul.

Gnosis Chocolate was next...thankfully the bars are now available at Essene here in Philadelphia in several flavors. At $8.99 a bar, I chose one to sample, the Fleur de Sel. I should have grabbed one of each, because this is highly comparable to Fine & Raw's smooth, mouth-melting, nuggets of pure cacao. Blissful and energizing.

Gnosis bills itself as "The World's Most Nutritious Chocolate", certified organic, and free of refined sugar, cholesterol, gluten, dairy, and soy. Each bar is made by hand without machines and packaged in recycled boxes with biodegradable wrappers.

Ingredients for Fleur de Sel: Cacao Beans, Agave Nectar, Blue-Green Algae, Fleur de Sel Salt, Pink Himalayan Salt, Love. (No really, love was in there). 

Obviously I have 13 different types of salt in my cupboard and not one of them is table salt, because I'm ridiculous and that's why we're here. So of course I was going to love the crunches of salt found throughout this bar. The Blue-Green algae, welcome, but I did not taste that. I'd say this was certainly smokier and more bitter than the Fine & Raw brand, with a coffee aftertaste that was not unpleasant.

The fine thing about Gnosis is the smooth "cream" of the chocolate that makes it taste fresh and truffle-like. Imagine you were eating a deep dark chocolate truffle and then put it in bar form. So rich and decadent, and quite beneficial to your health and mood. This ranked high with me. And I probably mean high.

Please still like me after I confess this. See, I have really great portion control and I'm able to take rich things like chocolate bars and make them last...at least a few days. Good thing the Gnosis bars are only 2 ounces because it disappeared in a single afternoon.

Fine & Raw (the cacao and coconut chunky bonbon) will always be a loved brand in this house, but Gnosis is welcome any time...

Cooking from Spork Foods: Glazed Tempeh and Quinoa-Fennel-White Bean Salad..

Perfecting timing for the release of Spork-Fed: Super Fun and Flavorful Vegan Recipes. The recipes seem mostly fall-inspired and family-friendly, which is how we've been cooking here lately.

I've been working away from the home office more often and have a tight schedule throughout the week since fall began. I needed a new cookbook to set me straight and do a little bit of the meal-planning for me. This book sounded perfect, lots of tempeh recipes (my current go-to protein) and some Thanksgivingy dishes.

The guy I yap about all the time woke me up in the morning bearing luscious Blue Bottle coffee. He followed through by flipping through the Spork-Fed book to come up with dinner. When I walked in the door, he was prepping my mystery meal: Glazed Tempeh and Quinoa Salad with Fennel and White Beans with a Light Lemon Vinaigrette. He served it on top of some chopped escarole for a big plate of hell yes.

It was a bright meal for a dreary day, flavor-packed tempeh and majorly upgraded quinoa with beautiful greens. Ginger, fennel, lemon, mustard...it was better than a massage. Life advice: Invest in this book and preferably experience it with someone who loves tempeh and cooking as much as you do.

I guess I need to return the favor and make him some Frosted Tempeh Loaf. This book is already kicking my ass back into blog gear.

Vegan Greek Yogurt: So Delicious? Yes.

It's been a long wait and worth every second. So Delicious Greek Style Cultured Coconut Milk Yogurt is out!

The stats for the six flavors vary only slightly, here's a close-up of the plain:

As far as texture, this is as close to greek as you could probably get while keeping it vegan. It's thick and mousse-like and does the trick for me. I don't like to use the term "mouthfeel" but this has that oh-so-familiar greek yogurt mouthfeel. Which is the reason why most of us loved it in the first place.

Regular greek yogurt was the hardest thing for me to let go of when I made the transition to vegan. This product is just as good. Is it exactly like greek yogurt? It's really close. So close that anyone who tells me they could never stop eating greek yogurt might want to try this one out.

I've sampled every non-dairy yogurt out there and none of them have impressed me to the point where I'd ever admit that it was "just like yogurt". None of them were, and few of them could hold their own.

So Delicious' Coconut Milk yogurt has been an occasional treat for me, but again, I was missing that tang and heft of the greek stuff...so it made my day when So Delicious contacted me to send out some samples of  the new Greek Style.

They sent me each flavor but of course I went straight for the plain, because that's how I like, drizzled with a touch of agave and served over fruit..

They also sent each of the flavors. I tried the Blueberry first, not too enthused by the purple color of it. I would prefer if they packaged the yogurts with a separate section for the fruit and yogurt, so that you could mix in swirls of fruit as you wished. Appearance aside, it tasted really good! Not too sweet or artificial tasting.

The So Delicious folks also sent me some of their new Coconut Milk Nog and Mint Chocolate Coconut Milk. I don't normally buy flavored non-dairy milk beverages (I like plain almond milk the best and occasionally plain coconut). Every year I do pick up some vegan nog, though, it's been my tradition for years.

We make our own nog (recipe here!) but I noticed right away how thick this was. The consistency was impressive. I'd serve this in a pinch to my guests with some good rum and some coconut whip on top.

I haven't found the yogurt in stores yet but it is out and will retail at $1.99. Chime in if you spot it anywhere. Yes, I'll be buying more...

Veg Out: Interstate Draft House

Quick cell photos in a dark bar don't do the eats at Fishtown's newest pub any favors. You'll just have to trust that Interstate Draft House's vegan selections are plentiful, thoughtful, and extremely beer-friendly.

Let's get right to the Grilled Seitan Tips with Soy Aioli. Most of you will remember this legendary plate from the owners' previous restaurant, Azure, which is now Cantina Dos Segundos. After Azure closed, we all wept. It was some of the best seitan to be had, and my first experience with the sacred protein.

First, the portion is on the smaller side and is served with 3 tortillas and the soy aioli as I remember it. However, it seemed like something was missing. We dug in, and it was buttery and delicious, but at $11, there needs to be another component for such a tapas-sized plate.  Especially now that seitan is everywhere.

The Seitan Chili gets a topper of vegan cheese (ask for it sans sour cream, though) and has precious hunks of seitan to bulk it up. Get past the cheese and chips and you have something quite wonderful. I'm not the biggest fan of vegan cheese but this was a bowl full of comfort. I think I'll order this on every cold night that I go...

I tried the Vegan Cheeseburger after confirming that it was in fact covered with gooey faux cheddar and that the veggie patty was housemade with vegetables and grains. Again, if you love vegan cheese, then this will hit the spot. I found myself wishing there was less of the cheese (I'm pretty sure it was Daiya). It reminded me of the veggie burger at Blossom in NYC, which I used to be obsessed with. I found myself wishing that the burger had come with some of the yuca fries (we ordered a side of mushrooms with yuca fries) and would order this again with fries. Sometimes you're just in a veggie burger mood and this is a swell solution to that.

Back to those fries. I could easily skip fries most of the time, unless they're sweet potato or...the rare opportunity of yuca. Interstate offers regular, sweet potato, a fry sampler, and also does plantain fries. Then there's the side of yuca. The yuca is served in a small dish with grilled mushrooms, and this was the highlight of the table for me. It is served at room temp, which was quite pleasant. I dipped the yuca in the soy aioli,  and could not stop. New favorite bar snack?

As far as beer, the selection is approachable enough to please everyone. The bar and dining room both feel  relaxed and the place had a nice crowd for a Friday night in the opening week. Our bartender was an Azure veteran and was enthusiastic, funny, and made us instantly feel like regulars.

Another positive change for the neighborhood that I grew up in AND an exciting new venture from the people who first fed me seitan...I cannot wait to be a regular.

Vegan Pumpkin Muffins.

We've gone over this before, but A) I don't like too-sweet muffins that you find at coffeeshops and B) I just recently learned how to make muffins that look pretty. Solution? I overfilled the tins.

When this batch of muffins turned out lovely, fluffy, and just sweet enough, I had found my muffin match. 

I added cranberries to the mix for some fall-forward tartness, but you could try chocolate chips, blueberries, goji berries, diced apple or pear...

Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

dash of salt

1.5 cups pumpkin (I used organic canned but if you have fresh pureed pumpkin, even better)

1 cup almond milk

1/3 cup agave nectar

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

For folding in:

1/4 cup pumpkinseeds

1/4 cup frozen cranberries (you can use dried cranberries but they won't burst with juiciness the way that frozen will)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until slightly lumpy. Fold in pumpkinseeds and cranberries.  Bake for 22-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Makes 9 large muffins.

Vegan Cocktail Meatballs, Grandma-Inspired.

Do you have a family meatball tradition? When I asked Josh's grandmother for her treasured cocktail meatball recipe, with the intention of creating a vegan version, I was pretty certain it'd be nothing like the original. I haven't even tasted the original. So I wasn't trying to "copy" them, but I was inspired by them...because let's face it, a veggie meatball will never taste like a meatball.  And that's okay with me.

1950 meets 2011...These were fresh, flavorful, and fun to eat. And just retro enough to make a grandma happy...don't forget the toothpicks! 

Upgrades...while grandma uses a traditional cocktail meatball sauce of Heinz Chili sauce and concord grape jelly, we decided to make our own chili sauce with organic grape jelly, giving the meatballs a 2011 update.

Here is the recipe we worked from, via A Veg*n for Dinner. Our changes:

Omit the vegan bouillion.

Use fresh parsley instead of thyme

They are on the bready side, so we're tweaking the recipe a bit to include less bread and more vital wheat gluten. 

Chili Sauce

1.5 cups organic ketchup

1/2 white onion, minced

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp chipotle powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce

8 oz organic grape jelly

Sear meatballs on medium high heat until lightly browned. Heat chili sauce ingredients over medium heat, stirring often. Then add meatballs to sauce and cook for 5 minutes. Simmer on low until ready to eat. 

These are best served hot or cold, not at room temperature, simply because they are softer in texture at room temp. Something we're going to test in our next batch.