Category Archives: Reviews

Tofutti Ricotta

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Long time no post! Things have been crazy busy these past few weeks with tests, new jobs, holidays, hamsters and family obligations. Phew! With the long weekend and a chance to breathe, I finally had time to try out a new product that picked up – Tofutti Better Than Ricotta Cheese. So this post is going to be half product review, half recipe (without all the explicit steps).

If you look, the ricotta is in the background of this pic. 

We decided to try out the ricotta in a lasagna. We got some gluten free lasagna noodles (first time working with those too) and set those to boil. For our filling we used eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, carrots, onions, garlic, tomatoes and tomato sauce. We layered everything in our pan, including a layer of ricotta, topped it with a mix of daiya cheeses and baked.  Above: Layer of unbaked Better than Ricotta cheese.

Below: A slice of the finished lasagna! 

The end product was yummy although I’m on the fence about the ricotta. When baked it became liquid-y to the point that the noodles were slipping, and it had a slightly sweet taste that just didn’t seem quite right. However, it wasn’t bad overall and I can see it holding up better texturally if it were mixed with spinach or tofu before baking. I would most likely buy this again, but I would make sure to prepare it with some sort of food buffer to ensure it didn’t liquefy and run off my plate.

Review: Amande Cultured Almond Milk

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For a brief period in my first year of university, my go-to snack was yogurt and I could inhale a container of French Vanilla with the best of ‘em. When I first cut dairy out of my diet, I missed yogurt dearly. However, by the time I went to live in Chicago many years later I had almost forgotten my love of yogurt. In the US, I was lucky enough to find several very good yogurt substitutes in my regular grocery store and began to enjoy yogurt-y snacks once again. Unfortunately, like many other vegan and veggie items, the selection has been much poorer since I returned to Canada. I have yet to find a yogurt-like product that I really enjoy, but I have been trying the few that do pop up – most recently Amande Cultured Almond Milk.

When I saw this on the fake-milk shelf, my interest was piqued. This is the first cultured almond product that I have seen here in Canada and I am happy for the variety. Amande is completely vegan, soy-free and sweetened with fruit juices. I purchased two snack-sized containers (peach and raspberry) and a larger container of the original that I intend to use in recipes.

The flavours were natural tasting, but I found the peach to be very mild – I would have preferred a much stronger taste. However, the cashier where I purchased these informed me that she loves these yogurts and thought the peach was delicious. To each her own. The yogurt wasn’t very sweet, which was a nice change but again a matter of individual taste. The sweetness worked well for the fruit flavours but I doubt would be as good for something like vanilla. As for the creamy texture that Amande claims to have achieved… not so much. To achieve an almost smooth texture appeared to require thorough mixing. This was quite difficult to achieve while keeping the yogurt in the snack-sized cup, so I basically ended up repeatedly jabbing at it with a spoon. After an exhaustive stabbing, the end product still contained tiny clumps making the yogurt slightly grainy. The raspberry was thicker than the peach and was my least favorite of the two. That being said, once I began to think of it as an almond snack instead of comparing it to yogurt, the overall experience was alright.

For almost $2 per cup, I don’t think that I would buy this again for a snack. I would consider purchasing these again for recipes like smoothies or frozen yogurt pops, especially if I was cooking for someone with a soy allergy, but probably only if it was a special occasion or meal.

Live Food Bar Review (Toronto)

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Ok, so I’m a bit obsessed with finding great vegan restaurants.  I recently attempted to visit all of the vegan restaurants I could find while driving across the USA (I’ll have more on the outcome of that later).  I had the pleasure of living in Toronto for the last year, and was able to visit virtually all of the vegan eateries in the city.  For those looking for vegan places to go in Toronto, I recommend Hogtown Vegan, Fresh, Fressen and, finally, Live Food Bar – the restaurant reviewed in this post.

I’ve been to Live more times than I can count, and I’ve had it delivered for dinner at home a few times as well from www.orderit.ca.  I really appreciate the fact that Live Food Bar is on OrderIt, since there usually aren’t too many options for vegans when ordering delivery.

Let me start by saying I’ve tried pretty much all of the juices here and they are all really good (and healthy!).  The two I always go back for are the Vitamin See (orange, ginger, lemon) and the Green Kick (kale, ginger, pear, dandelion, lemon).  Fresh fruit and vegetable juices are a big part of how I stay healthy, and I gravitate towards anything with ginger if I’m starting to feel sick for any reason.

Ok: On to brunch.  I need everyone to go to Live and try the Mac Muffin. Immediately.  It’s really, really great, and I couldn’t tell the difference between it and the last real egg mcmuffin I had (which, to be fair, was a few years ago).  I gave some to my (non-vegan) boyfriend and my friend (also not vegan), and they loved it.  While they both said it didn’t taste like eggs, they thought it was still a great dish on its own.

Next we tried the Tofu Omelet. This wasn’t as good as the Mac Muffin, but I thought it had a really fantastic flavour, and it was full of avocado, cherry and sundried tomatoes, arugula and almond parmesan.  It was a bit dry, but definitely something I would try again at brunch.

Finally, we shared a Brunch Club, a triple-decker sandwich with tempeh and eggplant bacon, tofu, tomatoes, greens and avocado.  Again, it was tasty, but nowhere near as good as the Mac Muffin (an opinion shared by my fellow diners).  I think the problem with the Brunch Club was that it’s very similar to something I make at home, and when I go out for a vegan dinner I want to be blown away by something I’ve never thought of making, or haven’t been able to make properly.  That being said, none of us had any real problems with the dish, and I would happily enjoy it again … but I would make it myself.

The next meal I had from Live Food Bar was something I ordered from OrderIt when I felt like having a night in.  I ordered the Antipasto Platter (not shown) and the Tofu and Chips.  The antipasto platter consisted of olives, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, pumpkin and sunflower seed hummus, cashew herb chevre, flat breads, and an almond seed breadstick.  It was delicious.  We ate it really quickly since it was so good, which left less room for dinner than we would have liked!

 Next we tried the Tofu and Chips, which was described as: battered tofu steaks over cornmeal chickpea fries and creamy, cashew slaw.  When it arrived, however, it was lacking for chick pea fries.  This was a shame, since this was the aspect of the dish to which I was most looking forward.  Quite apart from the missing element, however, this meal was the most disappointing of any that I have ever had from Live Food Bar.  It was difficult to pinpoint exactly what was off about it, but I think it may have failed owing to its being a bit mushy. There was also too much lemon on the tofu.  Perhaps it was because it was delivered, and therefore sitting out for a while, but I can safely say that I wouldn’t order it again (I’ve tried it twice, and didn’t like it either time).

I’ve also purchased a few items at Whole Foods (they carry a few of Live’s items) to eat at home.  When I was gluten free for about six weeks I purchased the corn tortillas to make wraps and was quite impressed with the taste and texture.  They were a bit thicker than my usual wraps, but they didn’t break when I rolled them (bonus points!).  Overall, I would definitely recommend these to anyone who is gluten free.

Finally, I impulse-purchased the basil pesto spaghetti from Whole Foods, and I’m glad I did; it was incredible.  It’s obvious that it’s not pasta (the “noodles” are made from zucchini) but it honestly doesn’t matter.  Even though it was pre-packaged, the noodles weren’t mushy at all and the flavours were amazing together.  At home, I often attempt to replace pasta with spaghetti squash or zucchini for a healthier dinner, but it has never been anywhere close to as good as this was.  Plus, we ate it without adding anything to it, which almost never happens.

Overall, I would highly recommend Live Food Bar to anyone who wants a fun, interesting and slightly different vegan food experience. Much of the food is raw and almost everything I have tried has been totally worth the price.  I hope you’ll go and let me know what you eat, and what you think!

Laura.

Review: Kelp Noodles

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After a rather scarring experience with tofu/yam noodles (read: smelly and texturally alarming), I mustered up some courage and Tums, and decided to try another form of alternate noodle – Kelp Noodles by Sea Tangle Noodle Company. I picked these up out of curiosity and decided to try them because as a gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nightshade free noodle – they might come in handy one day. And I know some of you might be thinking – who could possibly have that many allergies? Well, let me say that I know an individual such as this, and his diet is restricted to fruits, veggies, meat and nuts. So when a new, basically allergen free, product appears on the shelves, I feel compelled to try it (at great personal risk I might add). As an added bonus, these noodles are low in carbs and calories, without the gag-inducing smell of some other alternative products.

I decided to go with one of the suggested uses, which was to fry them up in a stir fry. The uncooked noodles had a clear, slightly stiff appearance, but no funky smell, which was a definite plus given past experience. I made a veggie and tofu stir fry and left some extra liquid in the bottom to soften up the noodles and impart some flavour. The noodles didn’t absorb too much flavour, the sauce coated them more than anything, and they retained a crunchy, slightly chewy texture which could be a plus depending on your tastes. I could see these being good in a spring roll or cold salad recipe. Overall, I would say they were passable, but slightly on the expensive side if you can opt for another noodle. However, I would use these again in a pinch if entertaining my allergy prone friend.