Veganaroo!!

This was my fourth year shooting concert pics at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee for my newspaper, The Memphis Flyer.

Each year, my friend and fellow reporter Shara Clark and I camp out in the media area (which is way nicer than the overpopulated and wild general camping grounds) and attend show after show in the blazing hot sun. She writes. I shoot. That means I get to stand in the photo pit right in front of the stage for the first three songs of most shows. Then they kick us out into the crowd. Basically, I have the best job ever.

This year's fest featured another amazing lineup — Bjork, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Purity Ring, Wu-Tang Clan, Big K.R.I.T, A$AP Rocky, Billy Idol, R. Kelly, Passion Pit, Pretty Lights, Porter Robinson, Weird Al Yankovic, comedian Bob Saget, and a horde of new indie and hip-hop acts I've never even heard of. And even though I could care less, Paul McCartney (yes, I hate the Beatles, but I do love all he does for vegetarianism), Tom Petty (yes, I hate his music), and The Lumineers (not into it, but people seem to like them) were there too.

I got some GREAT shots of the bands, and I'll share a pic from my fave performance of the weekend in a few. But you're here for food, not music. And luckily, Bonnaroo is VERY vegan-friendly. Most every food vendor has a vegan option. When 80,000 hippies gather for a weekend fest, you'd better believe vegan options are a must. I ate some meals at my campsite to save money (oats, instant ramen, and peanut butter and jelly wraps). But I also enjoyed lots of delicious vegan festie food.

We arrived at the festival on Thursday afternoon. Even though I had a snack at the campsite before heading to Centeroo (where the action happens), I was hungry again after we watched Purity Ring.  These Veggie Samosas with Dal were only $2 each!

On Friday, I ventured out in search of dinner after shooting Passion Pit. I'd heard about a BBQ tempeh vendor, but while searching for that place, I ran across Feel Good Foods, which had BBQ Soy Curls & Black Beans! Um, yes, please. Soy Curls > Tempeh.

It's easy to get overheated at Bonnaroo, especially when you're trying to drink beer and balance your water intake. There's very little shade in Centeroo, and the average daytime temp this year was 90 degrees. While wandering around Centeroo on Saturday, I started to feel a little crappy. Then I spotted one of the many Bonnaroo smoothie vendors. These are peppered all over Centeroo.

I had a Coconut-Strawberry-Banana Smoothie, and I instantly felt better.

Later on Saturday, hunger struck while we were watching Bjork's magical show. I hated to leave, so I stuck to the vendors close by where I could still hear her as I ordered this Tofu Bhan Mi. This was amazing — fried tofu, cilantro, crusty bread, and homemade plum sauce.

Bonnaroo goes all nearly all night with bands and DJs playing until the wee hours of the morning. I used to stay up until sunrise when we first started going, but I'm getting old, and I don't typically make it past 2 a.m. But that's still pretty late, definitely late enough to justify a fourth meal. I had this Channa Masala (forgive the crappy poorly lit shot) around 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning.

Even though we left on Sunday afternoon, it was my favorite day! Why? Because Macklemore & Ryan Lewis played, and I LOVE them more than anything ever. If "Thrift Shop" is the only Macklemore song you know, I challenge you to listen to his other stuff. He has plenty of funny songs, but he also raps the truth on so many important issues — LGBT equality, anti-consumerism, the problems of white privilege, homelessness, addiction. This dude is amazing.

I was shooting Macklemore at 2:30 p.m., so I fueled up first with this Funky Farmer Roti Roll from the Food Truck Oasis. That's slow-cooked curried squash, zucchini, and onions tucked inside an Indian flatbread.

My roti roll came from a truck of the same name in the oasis, an area where food trucks from across the country park and vend. Most of the vendors at Bonnaroo are set up in traditional stationary concession stands, but the Food Truck Oasis features real food trucks from all over.

Finally, at 2:30, the magical moment came! I was inches from Macklemore's face in the photo pit. Here's my favorite shot. He spotted someone in the crowd wearing a faux fur (and yes, it was definitely faux, although Macklemore has some issues with wearing real animals occasionally ... my only beef with him), and he had that person crowdsurf their coat to the stage so he could wear it for "Thift Shop."

Awwwwwww .....

Coq Au Vin (and a Vacation!)

I'm off to the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, so I'll be taking a blogging vacay until Monday night. I'm sure I'll have lots of vegan festival food to share since 'Roo is incredibly vegan-friendly.

Until then, I leave you with a serving of Seitan Coq Au Vin over whole wheat rotini pasta. And some English peas for good measure.

This is another recipe for my second cookbook project — veganizing trendy foods through the past century. Coq au vin (which means "rooster with wine" in French) has been around for ages, but it was popularized in America in the 1960s by Julia Child.

For my vegan version, I simmered homemade seitan with mushrooms, onions, and vegan bacon in a red wine sauce. Bon appetit!

Coconut Water! Goji Berries! Dragonfruit! Oh My!

Before I get into tonight's review post of a few Nativas Naturals superfood products, I have an important announcement about everyone's favorite vegan snack box from Vegan Cuts! I've blogged about Vegan Cuts' monthly surprise box filled with vegan snacks before, but if you're not familiar here's some background. Anyway, if you order the June box by the 14th, you get a bonus $15 gift card to VeganChic.com (the place to go for vegan shoes and handbags). Click here to order.

Okay, now onto tonight's review. I've been a fan of Nativas Naturals products for years. Their raw Cacao Powder, Cacao Nibs, and Trail Mixes are amazing, so I was excited to try three of their new products. Sadly, I have mixed feelings about a few of them.

But let's start with the one I loved — Cacao Goji Superfood Power Snack.

I've long been a fan of Nativas Naturals Power Snacks, namely the Blueberry Hemp snacks. But these Cacao Goji bites may have blueberry beat. Each bite is about 100 calories and chock full of good-for-you stuff, like cacao, chia, sesame seeds, goji powder, maca powder, lucuma powder, macu-macu powder. You know, all the superfoods you've heard of but wouldn't be able to pick out of a lineup if you saw one. Who really knows what macu-macu looks like anyway? But we know it's good for us! I really love that these are made with a base of date paste, since dates are always the main ingredient in my homemade energy bars.

Next up is something I wanted to love — Chocolate Freeze-dried Coconut Water Powder.

I typically drink coconut water (or Vega Electrolytre Hydrator) after my runs to restore electrolytes lost during the workout. But coconut water is expensive. When I heard Nativas Naturals had a coconut water powder that could be added to water for an instant electrolyte beverage, I was pretty excited. It only takes one tablespoon per serving, and I thought this could be a less costly option than buying canned coconut water.

The directions say you're supposed to stir the powder into a glass of water. But much like cocoa powder, this stuff clumps in water. When stirring failed to break up the clumps, I put a lid on a mason jar and shook it up, martini-style. But even still, clumps.

Taste-wise, it's pretty good. I like the chocolate flavor, which comes from all-natural cacao powder. But sipping down a powder clump is no fun. I found that I could avoid the clumps by using a thin glass straw though. But I hope Nativas Naturals continues to perfect this product.

Finally, let's talk dragonfruit. Specifically, Nativas Naturals Sundried Dragonfruit Slices.

Yes, I ripped the bag up trying to get into these. I was so eager to try dragonfruit for the first time!

But guess what? I apparently don't like dragonfruit very much. This isn't Nativas Naturals fault, of course. This tropical superfruit tasted too savory for my liking. The hundreds of tiny seeds make for a crunchy texture, which I liked, but the taste of those seeds is nutty, almost flaxy. And the fruit itself isn't sweet enough to balance it out.

That being said, it's a source of protein, omega-3, and vitamin C. The texture of the dried fruit is a little like fruit leather, which makes it perfect for traveling or hiking or camping. If you're into not-so-sweet fruit, you might like this. So give it a try and decide for yourself.

Meanwhile, I'll be over here downing this whole delicious bag of Cacao Goji Power Snacks.

Where Do I Get My Protein?

We all get asked the annoying "where do you get your protein?" question by non-vegans all the time. And I typically give the standard answer — tofu, tempeh, seitan, beans, nuts, seeds, peas, even many veggies. But lately, I've been adding another protein source to my list — Vega!

Okay, y'all probably know that I love, love, love Vega products and basically anything by vegan Ironman triathlete Brenden Brazier. So how could I say no when the Vega folks offered to send me a massive sample pack for review? Not only did I say yes, I probably screamed a bit at my desk when the package arrived.

Look at all this stuff!

And this! I wasn't expecting this much stuff!

Ever since I started increasing my running mileage earlier this year, I've been relying on Vega One nutritional shake powder in smoothies after my runs. And this sample pack contained all sorts of Vega Sport products and Vega One products that I'd never tried before.

I decided to give a few Vega Sport products a "test run" (no pun intended) before, during, and after a hour-long run.

Before my run, I mixed the Pre-Workout Energizer powder with water. This is made from green tea, yerba mate, coconut oil, and rhodiola, which are supposed to provide energy, endurance, and mental focus before a workout. It was Acai Berry flavored and pretty tasty. It's 70 calories per serving.

I typically have a homemade energy bar before my runs and that usually gives me enough energy to last the whole run. But my energy bars have more calories than the energizer, so I knew I'd get hungry mid-way through my run. I brought along an Orange Zest-flavored Vega Sport Endurance Gel to consume at the 30-minute mark. Unlike some gels that are made with maltodextrin and dried cane syrup, the Vega gels have more natural ingredients like dates (the main ingredient), coconut oil, and natural flavors. This 100-calorie gel was what I needed to power me through my run.

After running, I typically have coconut water to restore electrolytes. But in the Vega sample pack were these cute little Electrolyte Hydrator packs. It's a stevia-sweetened powder that you mix with water. I tried the Lemon-Lime flavor. Voila, electrolytes!

Turns out I enjoy this more than coconut water (it has a Gatorade-like taste), so I've been buying these for the past few weeks. They're calorie-free (unlike coconut water) and more economical. Plus the packs are travel-friendly.

Finally, I tried the Vega Sport Performance Protein Bar in Chocolate Saviseed Flavor about 30 minutes after my run. I usually have a Vega One smoothie for my post-run protein, but this chocolate-covered bar was a nice change. It has a ton of protein and it's designed to help your body recover faster after your workout. Those little white flecks are Vega Saviseeds (a.k.a. sacha inchi seeds).

I love how Vega has all these great products specifically designed for before, during, and after workouts. It takes all the guesswork out of trying to figure out the proper things to consume at workout time.

A few days after I sampled those products, I tried the Vega Sport Performance Protein Powder in a smoothie about 30 minutes after a run. This has 25 grams of protein compared with only 15 grams in my usual Vega One protein powder. I'm no sports nutritionist, but I would guess it's better to consume Vega Sport after longer runs. I'll save my Vega One sample packs for the shorter runs.

The Vega One All-In-One Nutrition Bars in my sample pack were new to me as well. I haven't seen those in stores around here. But these are amazing. I enjoyed one at my desk as a snack on a day when I knew I'd have to eat a very late lunch.

They come in Chocolate Almond, Chocolate Cherry, and Double Chocolate. And they're not lying about all that chocolate. Each bar is coated in dark chocolate, so they almost seem naughty. But under all that candy bar goodness is sprouted brown rice protein, pea protein, chia seeds, Vega Saviseeds, dates, pumpkin seed butter, all kinds of goodness. Each bar has 15 grams of protein, plus lots of other good stuff like fiber, omega-3s, antioxidants, probiotics, and greens.

Finally, let's talk about those Maca Chocolate Bars! They sent five of them! And it's one of my favorite chocolate bars. They're 70% cocoa, organic, and each bar contains 4,000 mg of maca, which is said to balance, invigorate, and energize. Honestly, you don't have to give me a healthy reason to eat chocolate. But hey, bonus!

I signed up for my first half-marathon on Friday — the Shelby Farms Greenline Half-Marathon in October. I know Vega will play a big part in my training.

Father's Day Taco Time!

I'll be at the annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee on Father's Day this year, so my parents and I celebrated an early Father's Day today in my hometown of Jonesboro, Arkansas.

I call him Daddy, but y'all probably know him better as Papa Crunk. My Daddy is pretty much a badass. He rides a Harley. He's totally into skulls and being rebellious. And likely much to my Mama's dismay, he made me into a little rebel too. But past all that hard, badass stuff, he's really a big ole softie. He has tons of friends, and he'll do anything for them. He's the kind of guy his friends can call when they need help, and no matter what is wrong, he'll find a way to fix it. He's basically the best dude ever.

So I drove the hour to my parents' house this morning to hang out with the best dude ever. I arrived just in time to find my Mama hard at work in the kitchen preparing vegan and non-vegan tacos. She made meat tacos for my Daddy and Tofu Tacos for she and I (she's not vegan, but she loves tofu!).

Since she was just getting started, she put me to work in the kitchen. I cubed the tofu and marinated it in soy sauce, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, and cayenne. Then I fried the cubes in a skillet. Daddy tried a bite and declared that it was "pretty good." Also on these tacos is cabbage dressed with rice vinegar, tomatoes, jalapenos, Daiya cheese, and Tofutti sour cream.

On the side my Mama made my favorite vegan Pancho's Cheese Dip! If you grew up in the Mid-South, you know about Pancho's cheese dip. Well, my mama made a vegan version, and it tastes amazingly similar.

She also made some fresh guacamole and refried beans.

When we were almost done eating, Daddy remembered that Mama had put a bucket of frozen margaritas in the freezer the night before. Since it was frozen, we'd have to wait awhile for the ice to melt a little to drink them. So instead, we used spoons and had Margarita Snowcones!

A Mexican/hot dog joint in Memphis called Chiwawa serves "adult snowcones" made with tequila and margarita mix, and I have to say that these were just as good.

Happy Father's Day to the best dad in the whole world ever!

Bluff City Vegan Eats: Cooper Street 20/20

Sometimes there's just no time for cooking. And sometimes, there's really no time for waiting on takeout. It's times like these that you need a good grab-and-go shop. And Cooper Street 20/20 has busy, lazy, and just plain hungry vegans covered.

This Cooper-Young grab-and-go storefront offers vegan specials every week, plus a regular menu of vegan soups and hummus. Vegan items are clearly marked, and all ingredients used in each dish are listed on the label. Cooper Street 20/20 owner Kathy Katz offered me samples of this week's vegan specials to try.

My very favorite was this Stuffed Eggplant. Isn't it beautiful?

An eggplant half is hollowed and stuffed with a mixture of eggplant, squash, tomatoes, onions, and peppers. And that's topped with a very decorative swirl of mashed potatoes. Kathy cooks everything first and then packages it in an easily re-heatable package. This came in a small metal pie pan with instructions to bake for 20 minutes. By the way, those lovely crispy spots were already there when I picked this up. Beautiful! And it tastes like a shepherd's pie made with eggplant.

I also sampled Kathy's Chickpeas and Brown Rice.

These were Indian spiced with just a tad bit of heat and a generous amount of curry. I had these for lunch today, and since I'm easing out of my juice fast by trying to eat more wholesome solid foods (nevermind that peanut butter tart I had this afternoon ... that doesn't count), this meal made me feel really healthy. I had these with a side of sauteed kale that I made at home.

Finally, I tried the Veggie Pot Pie. Here's the whole thing.

And here's a slice.

I love that layered veggie look. Almost like a terrine. Layers of broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, and carrot are topped with a crunchy streusel crust. Amazing!

Now, one thing you should know is this Veggie Pie does contain honey. So if you're super-strict about honey, you won't want to get this. But the honey is listed on the label. I don't personally buy honey or honey-containing products in the grocery store, but I'm a little more lax when eating out.

Here's a picture of a label so you can see how it breaks every ingredient down. This is all wholesome stuff, folks.

Kathy will have these vegan specials tomorrow at the store (800 S. Cooper), and she'll also be at the Memphis Farmer's Market on Saturday morning with these specials (as well as her non-vegan specials). But when this week has come and gone, she'll have other vegan stuff to try! Plus, she generally always has quite a few regular vegan soups and other goods.

The following soups are vegan: Gazpacho, Tomato Basil, Greek Lentil, Curry Carrot, Russian Cabbage, Black Bean Chili, and African Peanut. There's always a variety of hummus: Traditional, Black Bean, Roasted Red Pepper. And perhaps best of all? Cooper Street 20/20 sells pints of homemade pickles!

Cooper Street 20/20 is located at 800 S. Cooper. Call 901-871-6879. They're open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Juiced Out

Yesterday, I wrapped up Amber Shea Crawley's whole foods-based Real Food Cleanse, my attempt at undoing the damage done by too many doughnuts in Portland. But for some crazy reason, I didn't want to stop there. I decided that it would be a good idea to forgo solid foods until dinner time today in favor of fresh juices.

For one thing, I've been meaning to review The Everything Giant Book of Juicing. And for another, I do love the way I feel the day after a juice cleanse. I picked out four juices from The Everything Giant Book of Juicing to make two times each. So I made eight large juices in all. Last night, I separated out the veggies for two juices and let them soak in the sink as a lazy way of washing.

The morning started with a large hot water with lemon (something about getting the circulation going, I read that somewhere), followed by a large Energizer Juice from the book. This had apples, cucumber, celery, lemon, kale, spinach, and romaine. It was supposed to also have ginger but I forgot to buy any, and it was supposed to have fennel, but that's gross. Loved this juice! Apples make green juice tasty.

I brought two large juice jars to work as morning snacks — another Energizer Juice and this Powerhouse Juice. The Powerhouse was made with celery, parsley, spinach, cucumber, carrots, and beets. It also called for Swiss chard but only two leaves. I didn't see a point in buying chard for two leaves. I'm always a fan of beet juice, and this hit the spot.

I should mention though that the Powerhouse Juice totally killed my Jack Lalanne juicer. Midway through juicing a beet, the motor just gave out. I considered giving up then and there and having a bowl of peanut butter oats instead. But then I remembered that I had a key to my friend Cassi's house and that she had a Breville. I broke in, stole her juicer, and brought it back to my house. This is what she gets for entrusting me with a key. Oh, and by the way, I learned today that the Breville trumps Jack Lalanne big-time. That Breville could juice a brick, as Cassi likes to say.

Anyway, I went home from work at lunch to make more juice. I'd prepared this sink full of veggies for my gazpacho juice.

But before I made the tomato-based gazpacho juice, I had this Vampire Chaser — cucumbers, parsley, and garlic. I LOVE juices with garlic, but I'm sure the people around me don't. Oh well. This was light and refreshing with a spicy garlic kick. Sorry if I breathed on you.

And finally, I had Good Old Gazpacho — tomatoes, scallions, garlic, red pepper, green pepper, and jalapeno.

This was my very fave! I love tomato juices the best, and with the garlic and jalapenos, it was like a way fresher, less sodium-heavy Spicy V8.

By 5 p.m., I'd had seven servings of these combinations. I ended up not even needing my last jar of Vampire Chaser because I was actually full.

But before you go thinking this juice fast was easy for me, not so fast. It was hell. I drank lots of water in between juices and had a juice every time I started to feel even the slightest bit hungry. But I never felt satisfied (full, yes, but not satisfied), and around 2:30 p.m., I started to feel light-headed and weird. I decided that I must be high on vegetables.

I can't even begin to explain how happy I was when dinnertime arrived! My friends and I go to Imagine Vegan Cafe every Wednesday. I ordered their Hummus Plate, and omg, I have never been so excited about hummus.

Imagine is a comfort food cafe, and they're known for pizza, chili dogs, and vegan country fried steak. Not hummus. This dish wasn't even on my radar before, but it seemed like the perfect thing to eat coming out of a juice fast.

I felt 100 times better after eating solids, but I was still hungry. So I ordered a Side Salad with Vegan Ranch. Now ranch probably isn't a good thing to have after a juice fast, but it tasted so good. And I felt like that little indulgence might be the perfect food to transition me into regular solid food tomorrow. God, I can't wait for tomorrow. I'm sure I'll feel great for having juice-cleansed, and I'll be so glad this is over.

To be fair, the juices I drank were delicious. And the Everything Giant Book of Juicing is awesome. It's packed with all sorts of creative juice combos (they even juice sweet potatoes!), and juices are organized in chapters of veggie juices, fruit juices, detox and cleansing juices, anti-aging juices, cold soups, and smoothies. I'll continue to use the book but probably not for fasting. An occasional juice snack between solid meals is perfect for me.

I've successfully done two "until dinner" juice fasts before today, and I've had one total failure. Although this juice cleanse had its downs, I think it may have gone a little easier than cleanses in the past. The key for me this time was lots and lots of juice. I drank so much liquid, and I was peeing all day. But despite the lightheadedness at times, I wasn't starving like I have been on cleanses in the past. Though I'd rate this one as the most successful of my four juice fast attempts, damn, I'm glad it's over.