Are vegetables not manly?

Esquire is getting on the veggie bandwagon? Probably not. But the more they steer their audience into some healthier options, the more I heart them. Even the blog I have been reading all day had forward the same article I read early today. I feel so connected.

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/food-for-men/manly-vegetarian-dish

Seriously though, I just fell in love with the Chubby Vegetarian. I have been reading their blog postings like I would read a smut novel. Holy shit. Mushroom meatballs, beet pastrami, mushroom deli slices....oh how I love this site so much. They have some great "manly" recipes.

http://chubbyvegetarian.blogspot.com/2012/02/vegetarian-meatballs.html
http://chubbyvegetarian.blogspot.com/2014/02/pastrami-cured-beets.html
http://chubbyvegetarian.blogspot.com/2011/02/portobello-mushroom-deli-slices.html

About
The Chubby Vegetarian folks love to share original recipes and photos of their kitchen adventures. You can browse over 700 vegetarian recipes made from whole foods to find what to make for dinner tonight.

Description
Justin Fox Burks and Amy Lawrence, a husband-and-wife team, are the authors of The Southern Vegetarian Cookbook: 100 Down-Home Recipes for the Modern Table (Thomas Nelson, 2013.) http://www.amazon.com/Southern-Vegetarian-Cookbook-Down-Home-Recipes/dp/140160482X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353061268&sr=1-1&keywords=the+southern+vegetarian

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Chubby-Vegetarian/173859982634157

Vegivore Eats | Broccoli, Cauliflower and Cheddar Chowder

Does anyone remember the last time we really saw the sun?  I mean, I'm fine with this rain, don't get me wrong (reminds me of living in the wondrous Pacific Northwest), but the darkness and gloom make me want to burrow; to stay warm.  Put on my slippers and call it a day...as soon as I wake up.  Under covers and pajamas forever!
But that's not how normal, functioning members of society operate, so up and dressed we get, ready to face the (albeit cloudy) day ahead.
It's days like today I feel especially lucky that I get to cook for a living (and generally, from home).  I might have three burners going for business, but there's still that one open for the possibility of whatever it is I'm in the mood for.  And today I'm in the mood for soup.
This is not a particularly difficult dish to make, but it does have a secret ingredient that makes it different than most recipes, higher in vitamin C and fiber than most recipes, creamier than most recipes while still lower in fat and even lower in sodium than most recipes (by as much as 35%!).

Using broccoli from Kimball Fruit Farm, homemade vegetable stock, heady sharp cheese, fresh herbs, organic cauliflower and canned Great Northern beans (secret ingredient alert!), this chowder is a mainline to silken vegetarian nutrition.  Fills you up to the top and keeps you there longer than the takeout dinner you'd planned on. For something with only a handful of major ingredients, the flavor is unexpectedly big.

Served in an Au Bon Pain bread bowl because why not.  The staff totally thought I was weird buying a bowl without soup.  ..."Dudes, I need the bowl for reasons, okay"

BROCCOLI, CAULIFLOWAH AND CHEDDAH CHOWDAH

serves 6-8

1 Tbs olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, sliced*

1 head of broccoli, cut into florets (about 1/2lb, 3-4 cups)

1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets (about 1/2lb, 3-4 cups)

1 tsp each fresh tarragon, oregano, rosemary and thyme

3 cups vegetable stock, divided

1 cup water

14oz can of Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup fresh-grated extra sharp cheddar, plus extra for garnish

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium-high heat.  When shimmering, add the onion and garlic and stir occasionally for a few minutes, infusing the oil and softening the onion.

Add your broccoli and cauliflower florets, as well as the herbs, and cook them in the essentially dry pot for a few minutes, stirring occasionally before adding 2 cups of stock (add it when you get nervous that the pot is *too* dry).  Let the stock come to a boil, then cover and cook for approximately 7 minutes -- florets should be tender.

Stir in the rinsed beans, the cheese and some salt and pepper.  Use an immersion blender to puree the soup entirely.  Thin with additional stock as needed. Salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer to bowl, garnish with extra cheese (or some sour cream, yum) and serve warm.

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*PRO TIP: slice your garlic vs. mince it to maximize the surface area and promote browning vs. burning.

Vegivore Eats | Pasta Romanesco

Romanesco, in many ways, is nothing fancy.  It tastes like a cross between broccoli and a cauliflower.  The florets' cooked consistency is vaguely reminiscent of asparagus tops and the preparation nearly identical to other vegetables in the same family; clusters of buds on one main stalk.  Romanesco might be something you've never seen before, but is at once familiar, and is easy to use in place of other vegetables in recipes.  The real reason to snatch this up, however, is because it's perfectly and geometrically visually appealing.  Here is what makes romanesco fancy, a vegetable that begs to be photographed just as much as it does to be eaten.

"Imagine the psychedelic love child of broccoli and cauliflower with lime-green British punk hair, and you have something close to romanesco." -- Mario Batali (photo credit: The Village Voice)

This is fractal food at its finest.  The hybrid veggie with the natural chartreuse whorls was first documented in the 16th century -- one might say the romanesco is the traditional Brassica vegetables' elegant, grandstanding Italian cousin.

Romanesco probably only wears Versace.  Fancy, sassy b. (photo credit: Brooklyn Farmhouse)

 As usual, I recommend roasting for any first-time encounter with an unusual vegetable, as I think that the gentle caramelization brings out most natural ingredients' best flavors.  I didn't stray from this technique with this little head of romanesco (from Allandale Farm, Brookline), especially since I was already craving pasta and garlicky cream sauce and thought the oven-kissed florets would make a fine addition (and blog photo opp, huzzah). Especially when roasted together with some orange cauliflower, whole garlic cloves, strips of red bell pepper and French Citrus Fennel Sea Salt (from Saratoga Olive Oil Co., a gift from my Mom), this dish sang when it came together.  

Ready for the oven.

  For being so un-fancy in so many ways, roasting romanesco's spiky edible flowers adds something extraordinary to an otherwise pretty ordinary dish of cheesy pasta and veggies; sweet, exotic, tasting of the heat waves and cool nights associated with its short late summer season.

PASTA ROMANESCO

The perfect recipe for 1, maybe 2, whether it's for a regular lunch on the run...or for someone still unsure about trying something new-to-them like romanesco and wanting a "safe" vehicle in which to try it.

 1/3 lb head of romanesco, cut into florets

1/3 lb head of orange cauliflower, cut into florets

1/2 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips

2 garlic cloves, skins on

olive oil

French Citrus Fennel Sea Salt*

freshly ground black pepper

 1/3 lb wide egg noodles

2 tsp cream

1/4c vegetable broth

1/8c + 2 Tbs finely grated Romano cheese

Preheat the oven to 400.  Arrange the first four ingredients on a foil-lined baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper.  Toss to combine.  Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 mins (the romanesco should give easily when pierced with a fork but should not be in danger of falling apart).

In the meantime, cook the noodles til al dente in a pot of generously salted water.  Drain and set aside for the time being.

When your veggies are out of the oven, wait til the garlic cloves are cool enough to handle, squeeze them out of their skins and mash them.

Combine together the roasted veggies, garlic paste and pasta.  Add the cream and 1/8 c of cheese and add the broth in splashes, stirring in just enough to make a thin sauce.  Drizzle some extra olive oil over the top and scatter the last 2 Tbs of the cheese over the top.

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*PRO TIP: I realize that not everyone's Mom buys them seasoned salt, ha.  Substitute: kosher salt.  Stir in 1 Tbs lemon zest at the end.

Vegivore Eats | Boozy Orange-Carrot Tea Bread

Initially I only wanted a quick snack. I went to the kitchen to peruse the offerings in there and found in my crisper some leftover carrots from Monday's farmer's market trip. What happened next is a bit of a frenetic culinary blur...and I ended up with a loaf of perfectly golden, heaven-scented Boozy Orange-Carrot tea bread exiting my oven a relatively short while later.

These carrots, from one of my farmstand favorites (Dick's Market Garden), were just thin enough to be a pain in the butt to grate and yet just tender and perfect enough to be worth the trouble.  They added to the batter an earthy sweetness that offset the deep, robust flavors of the liquor and brown sugar.

Dried, sweetened cranberries added some chewy tartness to the finished loaf, and sliced almonds offered some crunch, along with a last-minute handful of dry-roasted sunflower seeds for a nutty, complementary umami.  Zested orange peel at the end brightened up the whole thing.

Vegivore Eats | Zucchini Pizza Rounds

If you're anything like me and just HAVE to take home that 6-pound zucchini at the farmer's market, then you've probably run into the problem of what the hell to do with it all.  Perhaps you grate half of it and make a bunch of zucchini bread.  But what to do with the rest? ...I know!  I know!  More zucchini bread!  Zucchini bread for life!

But we can do better than that.  While a good zucchini bread is great and all, and might even make you a few friends, one cannot live on zucchini bread alone.  Time to think beyond zucchini bread.

Low in calories and high in vitamin A, this technically-a-fruit "vegetable" has a lot to offer.  It'll support your vision, bones and immune function.  Plus, the potential size alone of these summer monsters lends itself to many a flexible culinary option -- even if a bumper crop challenges the ingenuity of the cook after awhile.  What about using a peeler to make a raw squash "pasta"?  Grilling them with herbs and garlic?  Halving them, scooping out the middles and  using it to make twice-stuffed zucchinis? Breading and baking wedges to get a sort of zucchini french fry? There are an abundance of recipes that come to mind for normal supermarket-sized zucchini, but my best quick recipe for the big guys is for zucchini pizza rounds.  They're pretty to look at, an open invitation for recipe-riffing and are even easier to whip up for almost any meal.

Zucchini bat from Linabella's Gourmet Garlic Farm (Oakham, MA), "Red Gravy" from Valicenti Organico (Hollis, NH) plus some oregano to take it from pasta to pizza, grated sharp cheddar from Cabot Creamery (Cabot, VT), garlic powder, caramelized oyster mushrooms and Vidalia onion, some Pecorino Romano, black pepper and fresh basil from Dick's Market Garden (Lunenberg, MA).

ZUCCHINI PIZZA ROUNDS

Turn on your oven's broiler.

Slice from your giant honkin' zucchini rounds about 1-2" thick (depending on how much you like zucchini, really, any width is okay).  Place them on a foil-lined baking sheet, and broil each side about a minute and a half.  You're looking to dry your zucchini rounds, not cook them...take them out early if your slices are looking a little wilted, or if they've gone the other way and are browning (or worse, burning).

Lift up each round and sprinkle some fine corn meal on the foil underneath before returning them to their places.  This will prevent any sticking; sort of lifts them up from the pan ever so slightly, plus gives this delicious crunchy finish to each bite.

Let cool and then top with whatever your heart desires.

Pop them back under the broiler for 2-3 minutes, or until you're content with the result.

The green of the zukes after broiling should be brilliant, the flesh soft and yet hearty enough to withstand many a topping.  There is no wrong way to make a pizza -- -- make these little veg pizzas yours and enjoy them in good health.

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PRO TIP: to store your zucchini for maximum longevity, keep it in a plastic bag (with a few holes poked in it) in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator.  Turn occasionally to avoid browning/bruising on the bottom.

Vegivore Eats | Farmer's Market Mac & Cheese

It starts with a bechamel -- warm milk thickened with cooked butter and flour, whisked constantly by the cook patiently awaiting the magic about to happen.  Spices and seasonings are added, then grated cheeses.  A moment later the most richly intense cheese sauce ever is finished. Combined with parboiled pasta and the week's farmer's market haul, and after a sprinkle of bread crumbs and a relatively quick turn in the oven, it's ready: completely heavenly macaroni and cheese.

Crunchy and creamy, as good cold as it is hot, and blissfully reheat-able -- there is nothing not to love here.

With bathing suit season and higher temps upon us, I know, I know, it's not fair to post this recipe!  I wouldn't call it healthy or light, and does require some attention and time in the warm kitchen  -- but the recipe will accommodate most any vegetable (the fresher the better, as with any ingredient), substitutions and experimentation are encouraged and it's a good gourmet go-to for any mac and cheese aficionado. ...like I need to twist your arm!

FARMER'S MARKET MACARONI AND CHEESE

serves 4 

(or 2 if you're anything like my boyfriend and I)

The stars of today's recipe:

fat n' luscious shell peas (Dick's Market Garden, Lunenberg, MA) and brilliantly sunny golden zucchini (Hutchins Farm, Concord, MA)

Ingredients:

2T butter, divided

2 slices bread

1 clove garlic

1T olive oil 

1 1/2T butter  

1 1/3c whole milk (plus extra to thin sauce), room temp

1/8c flour

1/2T kosher salt (plus extra for crumbs and pasta water)

 1/4t ground nutmeg

1t hot sauce

1/2t smoked paprika

1/4t black pepper

1t dried (or 1/2t fresh) oregano

1 2/3c grated white cheddar (the sharper the better), divided

1/2c cubed Gruyere cheese

1/4 lb pasta (shells and spirals work best)
fresh vegetables -- approximately 2 cups -- small dice, ribbons or grated

First, spray an 8x8 pan with PAM.  Set aside.

Then, make your bread crumbs.  Preheat the oven to 350.  In a food processor, buzz together 1/2T of the butter, the garlic clove, the bread slices and the olive oil, til fine.  Pop in the oven on a tinfoil-lined baking sheet and bake til crispy, stirring around occasionally, about 15 minutes.  

Set aside to cool, keep the oven on.

Parboil your pasta -- this means to cook as usual, except for a shorter amount of time (it will finish cooking in the oven).  I usually aim for half the time indicated on the package.  

Set aside.

Warm the milk in the microwave for 30 seconds.  In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Gradually whisk in the flour and cook the resulting roux for about a minute 30, stirring constantly.  Add the warmed milk in splashes, whisking vigorously.  At first it looks/sounds like you've done something very wrong.  You haven't, keep stirring.  When all the milk is in, simmer for about 8 minutes, stirring often, until thickened and starting to bubble (don't boil, though!).  Turn the heat down to low, and quickly add the salt, nutmeg, hot sauce, paprika, pepper and oregano.  Then stir in 1 1/3 cups of the cheddar and all the Gruyere.  If it comes together as a giant ball of cheese, simply add extra warm milk a splash at a time until the desired consistency is reached.  I usually need 2-3 splashes.  

Set the sauce aside.

Now, address your farmer's market goods.  Many things will need a quick cook-through before heading into the casserole.  I used shell peas, which needed a quick shock, but I grated the zucchini -- the smaller, delicate pieces didn't need any pre-cooking.  If you have greens, this really depends on the thickness we are talking -- baby spinach wouldn't need pre-cooking, Swiss chard would.  As logic would dictate, smaller, uniform pieces will cook more quickly and evenly (and be easier to eat).  In general, use your judgment.  Would you eat the vegetable raw or only partially cooked?  You might have to in the end, so consider this!

When your vegetables are ready, it's time to put together the casserole.  

(Gently reheat your sauce if it's gotten gluey, and) Add your pasta and vegetables to the cheese sauce and mix gently, then pour out the pan into the prepared baking dish.  Top the mixture with the remaining 1/3c grated sharp cheddar, then with the bread crumbs.  Bake uncovered in the still-heated oven for about 30 minutes, then cool 5-10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack before serving.  Serve with kosher (or garlic) salt and cracked black pepper over the top.

PRO TIP: make this recipe gluten-free by using rice bread, flour and pasta (my clients prefer Food For Life, Gluten-Free Pantry and DeBoles brands, respectively, found at Whole Foods or Harvest Co-op). 

   

I Heart Nutritional Yeast (by Sarah Sparks)

I HEART NUTRITIONAL YEAST

After attempting to become a vegetarian/vegan many times for many years, I've finally tried nutritional yeast. This is my savior. Although I have not much experience with it, I did find that it has been helping curb my cheese cravings and kind of reminds me of bread crumbs. There is something magical about this deactivated yeast that makes me feel so good. I now have tried it on a few salads. Success. Sandwiches. Success. I have even tried it toasted in the oven to find that it tasted like chicken skin. I kid you not. Or maybe my taste buds are playing tricks on me, but I am rather excited to explore my options.

Vegivore Eats | Green Garlic-Cheddar Souffle (by Julia)

I love the taste of this time of year.  The farmer's markets open for the season prominently displaying piles of green garlic, earthy and mild, a garlic plant not allowed to grow to cloves and prized for its snappy almost-bite and fleeting availability.

 

The immature shoots are not yet reminiscent of garlic in appearance, but when you get close enough to smell them, there's no mistaking they're family. They share much of the same health benefits as the grown-up bulb garlic, too, acting as an antibiotic and anti-inflammatory antioxidant, and can also ward off the rainy-day sniffles.  Plus, they are freaking tasty!

In this recipe, a simple souffle base ensures that the green garlic (Linabella's, Oakham, MA) is the true star; its gentle spiciness giving a tang to each bite.  Combined with farmhouse cheddar (Shelburne Farms, Shelburne, VT), farm eggs (Silverbrook Farm, Dartmouth, MA)*, a touch of nutmeg and lemon thyme from my window garden (you could also use regular thyme), this vegetarian dish offers an airy, bright and well-rounded tribute to late spring and early summer.  Cooking the green garlic will soften and sweeten, too, adding a layer of depth you might not have expected.  And the cherry on top of this whole experience: a souffle is tall and ethereal; dramatic.  What a presentation!



GREEN GARLIC SOUFFLE
Feeds 3-4

• 2 TBS butter, plus more for dish
• 2 tsp fine bread crumbs
• 1 chubby bulb of green garlic, prepared as described below and minced (if you simply canNOT find it, substitute larger scallions...if you must)
• 1/2 clove of shallot, minced
• 1/8 c cake flour
• 1 c whole (or 2%) milk
• 2 sprigs of lemon thyme + extra leaves as desired
• scant 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp + 1/8 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 egg yolks and 4 egg whites
• 1/3c grated white sharp cheddar
• 1/8 c + 1 T minced green garlic greens

1. Preheat the oven to 400.  Butter a 1-quart gratin dish (or a small casserole dish, or individual ramekins) and coat the bottom and sides with the bread crumbs.  
2. Now, make a roux by melting the butter, letting it cook for a minute, then whisking in the flour.  Cook for 5 minutes or so, then turn that roux into a herbed bechamel by adding the milk and thyme.  Whisk for 2 minutes, until the mixture is heavy and smooth.  Whisk in the nutmeg, salt and pepper and turn off the heat.  Pour into a mixing bowl and gradually add the egg yolks one at a time, whisking constantly and taking your time.  Whisk in the minced green garlic bulb, shallot and the 1/8c minced greens, as well as the cheddar cheese.  Set aside.
3. In a clean, nonreactive bowl, whip the egg whites with the 1/8 tsp salt until you reach the soft peaks stage.  Starting with a quarter of your whites, and then continuing with the remainder, gently fold them into the yolks mixture (don't deflate your hard work!) and discard the thyme stems.
4. Smooth the finished batter into the ready pan and bake for about 25 minutes (15 mins for individual souffles), or until it is puffy, deliciously golden brown and only slightly jiggles in the middle. ( Every oven is different, times may vary, but resist the urge to check on your souffle during the first 3/4 of baking; don't touch that oven door or you'll be sorry! )

...

PRO TIP: To prepare the green garlic, trim off the green and root ends then give it a 10-second-long swim in cold water (seriously, zoom it around in there; eke out all the dirties). Whereas you might fuss with the sticky skin on a garlic clove or onion, you needn't worry about that here.  Save the greens for both the recipe and garnish, mince or chop finely.

(*) PRO TIP: Use older eggs.  I used my eggs from last week's market excursion, as eggs that are too fresh will not hold air as well.  Also, cold eggs are easier to separate, but they should be at room temp before proceeding with the recipe.

Vegivore Eats | Green Garlic-Cheddar Souffle (by Julia)

Vegivore Eats | Lentil Tacos (by Julia)

I like a lot of things about lentils: the fact that I can buy them for cheap in bulk at the co-op, their adaptability, the ease with which they're cooked. The thing I like the most about lentils, though, is that when I eat them, I feel like I'm eating something good for me; like I'm doing right by myself.

While we often see lentils in Indian or Middle Eastern food, today I'd like to share them with you as Lentil Tacos. Without going all Alton Brown on you, I'll say they're high in insoluble fiber and protein (one cup is 28% of your daily protein requirements) and nearly completely fat-free. In this dish, lentils combine with rice (making up the two amino acids that lentils lack) in this vegetarian version of traditional ground beef tacos to form a complete meat-substituting protein -- without the post-meat coma.

You'll find this early Summer food (though the weather hastens to remind us that it's still technically late Spring) light, warming from the inside-out, and reminiscent of the real deal...even in texture.

As a special diets personal chef, my clients all have some sort of dietary restriction, but when it comes to this lentil taco filling -- it's not only naturally vegetarian, but also gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free and vegan. The bottom line? This is a fail-safe, metabolism-friendly, easy on the wallet, versatile and downright tasty Mexican-inspired dream of a meal.

Toasted corn shells stuffed with this lentil-rice filling, mixed greens from Kimball Fruit Farm (Pepperell, MA), corn kernels, garlic scapes and tomatoes from Dick's Market Garden (Lunenberg, MA) and topped with grated Asiago and Fontina cheeses as well as red onion rings.

LENTIL TACO FILLING

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 Spanish onion, finely diced
• 2 big honkin' garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• pulverized dried Guajillo chile equalling 2 tsp (or substitute chile powder)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1c cooked short-grain brown rice
• 1c green lentils (or brown for a more "authentic" look, but they require pre-soaking), cooked with 1 dried bay leaf
• 4oz can chopped green chiles
• 1 TBS Cholula or your hot sauce of choice

1. First, get your spices mixed together and have them ready, along with a glass of water to splash in the hot pan and deglaze as necessary.
2. Heat the oil on medium-high, and saute the onion and garlic with a bit of salt for about 3 mins. They should be nicely browned. 
3. Add the spices and stir the mixture for about 30 seconds. (Don't forget, if the pan's bottom seems gunky -- and it should-- splash a little water in there and stir up those bits!)
4. Turn the heat down to medium and add your cooked rice and lentils, the hot sauce and chiles, as well as a splash of water.
5. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Taste for salt and spices, adjust as necessary.

Voila! Lentil taco filling. What'd I tell you, easy-peasy. Stuff corn shells like I did and add whatever toppings your heart desires, eat it hunched over the stove with a spoon, crown a salad with it. The possibilities are vast. And this stuff's even better the next day.

Enjoy!

PRO TIP: Rinse your lentils well, then slow-simmer 'em for 45 minutes vs. the normal-simmer 20 minutes it usually takes, to save yourself any -- ahem -- tummy rumbles. By cooking them slowly, you're breaking down the lentils' starch that typically is hard for your body to digest.

Vegan Affairs with Jacquelyn Cook: Gourmet Express

Gourmet Express
1868 Mass Avenue,
Cambridge, MA 02140-2709
Phone: 617-547-7255
Fax: 617-576-1616
Email: info@gourmetexpress.us

Finding a place to eat that is vegan and wallet friendly can be a task in itself. I, however, have spent some time scoping out the local restaurants in Boston and surrounding neighborhoods. One of my newest, favorite places is a hidden-jewel market & deli called “Gourmet Express”, located in Cambridge on Massachusetts (Mass) Ave, across from Porter Square Train Station. First let me point out, they have an App in which you can order and pay right from your iPhone, and the App even leaves a place for you to put specific instructions like “no cheese”. The prices are reasonable for the area; you can expect to pay around twenty bucks for two people. What’s even better is they’re open 24 hours a day, and there’s FREE PARKING!

Upon entering “Gourmet Express”, it has a Manhattan-deli feel. There are fresh fruits and veggies in the back; walls lined with refrigerators; and delicious, random, hard-to-find foods in the makeshift aisles. They have a vast selection of creative foods including veggie burgers (vegan). I tried the Mexican veggie burger with alpha sprouts, salsa, and avocado. Not only is it a delicious combination, but the sprouts were fresh, and the avocados weren’t browned. The wait might be a few minutes, but it is definitely worth it, and it allows time to browse the selection of foods.

Besides the amazing veggie burger, I found a plethora of vegan foods. Gourmet Express stocks “Alternative Baking Company” products - hard to find, delicious vegan-friendly baked goods. I also found vegan whole wheat pasta, a selection of vegan bread, and a fairly large chocolate and candy selection; I even noticed some candies that I’ve only ever seen in Canada.



Overall I highly recommend dropping by Gourmet Express, grab a veggie burger and a cookie, browse the aisles, enjoy the free parking, and support the local economy.

Submitted by Jacquelyn Cook