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There are plenty of vegan-friendly restaurants in Asheville that I enjoy. Only one has – had – a meal that I frequently craved, especially on a particularly draining day. A vegan, gluten-free bowl of rice and daal from Chai Pani could always fill my belly, lift my spirits, and soothe my tired soul. Even better, it was a simple, healthy meal that I felt good about eating.

So naturally, Chai Pani changed their recipe so that their daal is no longer vegan. And I was told that while there was some talk of offering a vegan version, they decided against it. Thanks.

Don’t get me wrong – Chai Pani still has a couple of good items on their menu and their food is still good. But nothing I need to go out of my way for like that heart-warming, soul-soothing daal. That magic is gone from Asheville.

The next runner up for that kind of simple but satisfying vegan, gluten-free, healthy meal would be Laughing Seed‘s Harmony Bowl. I recommend getting the sauce on the side.

A little clump of blueberries

After 4 years of abuse, neglect, and incompetence, my blueberry bush has actually produced some berries this year!

I planted the bush 4 years ago around this time, following instructions and advice on acid-loving plants as best as I could. It looked OK for a few weeks, but it wasn’t long before I tripped over it and dragged the garden hose over it several times. The bush is still growing on an angle. A big bunch of its roots can be seen above the ground.

The following year, it didn’t produce a single flower. Nor the year after that. Actually, the third year, it barely produced any leaves. I thought it might be dead, but when I tried to break a branch, it didn’t snap like a dead plant. Always a sucker for the underdog, I decided to let the blueberry bush keep living.

My blueberry bush

I’ve been told by many people that you need to have a second blueberry bush for it to produce berries. I’ve tried to plant a second one twice now. Both times they died within the first year.

Don’t ask me how this “crop” of berries came to exist this year, because I don’t know. It certainly wasn’t anything I did on purpose. There are no more than a dozen little berries – 2 clumps. It’s very likely the birds will get to them before I do.

Red Tofu Curry at Plant

My birthday was this week. My “birthday season” is still going on. Here are a few things that have made this a fantastic birthday (and season), in no particular order:

• A surprisingly good meal at Plant. Surprising only because I didn’t think “red tofu curry” would be a terribly interesting dish, but it was as unique and artfully designed as all of their food.
• Chocolate truffles from The Chocolate Lounge, courtesy of a friend from work. I cannot believe I had never been there before. So good.
• A full day of my phone buzzing from constant birthday messages on facebook.
• I finally closed my crappy awful Wells Fargo bank account. Worst bank I have ever had, by far.
• A very perfect bright pink cardigan sweater – a gift from my boyfriend. I have no idea when I turned into a girl who likes pink, but I seem to have a lot of it around all of a sudden. And it seems to fill me with joy – maybe because it seems so unlike me.
• My favorite local swing band, Cry Baby, played at the Tuesday night Swing Asheville dance this week.
• A very happy ending for many who have suffered for far too long. Laboratory chimps get a new lease on life

Happy days!

A couple of runners not taking the race very seriously

The Animal Hospital of North Asheville gave away a registration to the Brother Wolf Animal Rescue‘s 5K, which happened this afternoon. I was the lucky “winner” of the vet clinic’s prize.

There was no time for training or preparation since I only found out I was running 3 days ago. Shear force of will and my desire to believe I’m still 20 years old got me across that finish line in just over 44 minutes. I managed to run for most of it, taking a walking break for about 1/2 mile in the middle.

Dogs were encouraged, and all seemed to be having a total blast. It wasn’t the most exciting event, but the weather was perfect, the people and dogs were friendly, and the race course was nice and easy. I thoroughly enjoyed the excuse to get outside and get some serious exercise.

If you’re looking for a new companion or a place to volunteer or donate, check out Brother Wolf. They’re a great organization.

Mixed berry pie by I Heart Veg

Black Mountain has a new 100% vegan bakery, I Heart Veg! Jeannie, the owner of the bakery, brought her baked goods right to my neighborhood farmer’s market (not to mention a few others) this week. You can “like” their facebook page to find out the next time they take their baked goods on the road. The bakery itself is on demand / by appointment only – not for walk-in customers.

They don’t have gluten-free options, I’m sad to say, but they do have some spelt items for those who can tolerate a small amount of gluten. I didn’t get to try any of those this week, but Jeannie promises to bring some to next week’s farmer’s market.

I tried a sample of the banana bread which was sooooo moist and delicious. And I took home a little mixed berry pie. Flakey crust, not overly sweet, strong fresh berry flavor – everything one could ask for in a little pie. What really shocked me, though, was my boyfriend’s response to it. I was expecting something along the lines of “I wish you wouldn’t bring junk food home.” What I heard instead was a 5-minute soliloquy on how this perfect pie reminded him of a simpler, better time. Honestly, I’ve never heard him go on about dessert like that.

Perhaps just as important as the tasty treats, was meeting Jeannie. We spent a good while comparing notes on how open and welcoming the people of the Asheville area are, especially compared to where we each came from. And how much there is to do and enjoy here, especially for such a small city. Jeannie is my kind of people, and I Heart Veg is your and my kind of bakery. So go check out their goods with a couple of friends and give them your support.

Sinless raw chocolate

I’ve been sampling some amazing vegan raw chocolates this weekend from Sinless. Vegan, raw, gluten-free chocolate, made right here in beautiful Asheville. Without even opening them up, they filled my kitchen with a strong chocolate smell. Yum.

Sinless is $8 a bar, but that’s not as expensive as it may seem. For one thing, they are good-sized chocolate bars, not skimpy. For another, they are so rich and filling that 2 segments of a bar (each bar has 10 segments) is about all I could eat at one time. Each flavor has a silky smooth consistency and a rich cacao taste. It’s neither bitter nor overly sweet. Here are the flavors I tried:

• ultra dark raspberry – Nice. The raspberry is subtle.
• ultra dark original – Tastes like a fudge brownie in chocolate form. This might be my favorite.
• ultra dark crunchy nib – Or this might be my favorite. Simple chocolate flavor, love the nib crunch.
• original peppermint – My boyfriend said it was “like a junior mint.” It is a lot like that although I think he forgets how overpowering and artificial the mint flavor in junior mints are. This chocolate is not like that aspect of it, but it does have a good mint kick to it.
• original almond – big pieces of almond aren’t my thing, but it’s good if you like that.
• ultra dark sea salt pecan – big pieces of pecan are better to me than almond, but it’s the sea salt flavor that makes this one extra good.

I didn’t try the ultra dark coconut flavor this weekend, but I remember trying a free sample of it at Green Life Grocery a while back and I vaguely remember it being the most delicious chocolate I have ever eaten. Although I’ve eaten so much chocolate today that I might just be in a swoon at the moment.

While Sinless might be on my mind right now, that shouldn’t take away from a couple of other amazing local chocolate companies that I’ve enjoyed.

I went through a phase of eating a couple of UliMana chocolate truffles every morning for about a month, until I realized they were causing my brain to become too unfocused to get work done. I save them for special occasions now and often give them as birthday gifts to friends.

Raw Shakti Chocolate is another definitely worth trying. Especially if you enjoy combining unusual flavors. Loco for Coco, with coconut and Hawaiian black lava salt, is a particular favorite of mine.

Yeah, 3 kick-ass raw vegan chocolate companies in one little mountain city. Life is good.

Tofu bacon, the only reason to go to Sunny Point Cafe

I never really understood why the wait to get into Sunny Point Cafe in West Asheville was always so long and why they always win “Best Of” awards. I figured maybe people like their eggs. I almost never go there, but on occasion I’ll go just because they are one of the only vegan-friendly-ish places in Asheville that opens early for breakfast, and they are very close by.

They had 2 vegan breakfast options which made it a tolerable place to eat. Sadly, I went in this morning looking forward to the vegan cornmeal hot cakes, which are so delicious but not the healthiest thing in the world, only to find out that they removed it from their menu.

That leaves only the Huevos Fucheros (vegan option) which isn’t that great but it’s filling and fairly healthy. It’s a tolerable option if you’re dragged there by non-vegan friends.

The only item on the menu that makes Sunny Point worth going to at all is their side of tofu bacon. It’s nothing like bacon at all, but it has to be the best tofu in town.

We figured out today that Green Sage opens for breakfast at 7am. Next time we’ll try there instead.

Macaroon from West Village Market

I’ve been eating very healthfully for many weeks so today I decided to indulge in a treat. But only one, so it had to be good. A gluten-free, vegan macaroon at West Village Market caught my eye a couple of days ago, and that was what I wanted today.

I’m very happy with my choice. It’s a large, coconut chocolate chip macaroon that was freshly made somewhere nearby. In other words, not in a package or full of preservatives. Very soft. Very filling.

For a small, neighborhood grocery store, West Village Market does a pretty good job keeping their store stocked with exciting vegan (and gluten-free) options.

Cafe Luna in Charlotte

Maybe it’s because I had more time to spend in Charlotte on this recent trip, but the city seems significantly more vegan-friendly than ever before.

First though, the bad news. Blynk Organic, the super healthy, vegan-friendly, soup and salad restaurant at the Southpark Mall, which I wrote about in a previous post, is no longer there. It was so good that we were actually looking forward to eating there again. I’m sure many readers are thinking, “who gives a crap about mall food?” Well, I hate shopping at the mall too, but the truth is that the only reason I ever go to Charlotte in the first place is to buy clothes, because you just can’t find petite women’s clothing in Asheville. It was nice to have a place in the mall to grab a quick bite to eat.

But on to all the good stuff, some of which is new, most of which has probably been there for years but I just didn’t know about it.

Fern, Flavors from the Garden, is a new all-vegetarian restaurant, a bit on the fancy expensive side.  Plenty of gluten-free, vegan options available. The flavors were impressive. The only complaint is that the portion sizes of the entrees were very small. I think most people would be disappointed with, especially considering the price. I do highly recommend trying it.

Buckwheat Blaster at Luna's

Luna’s Living Kitchen is a raw, vegan restaurant, open only for breakfast and lunch. Many gluten-free options. They have an extensive breakfast menu, but I was hoping to order something off the lunch menu. Unfortunately it was too early, and I didn’t end up making it back there again later. I ordered the Bombin’ Buckwheat Blaster, which was tasty and full of fresh fruit. For me though, it was way too sweet, which means most people would probably love it. Even so, I could tell the quality of the food was top notch, and I hope to try their lunch menu next time I’m in Charlotte.

I’m sorry to say, I found out too late about Zizi’s Vegetarian Restaurant. It’s 100% vegan, take-out/delivery only, lots of gluten-free options and lots of comfort food. It looks fantastic. It’s #1 on my list of places to go the next time I’m in Charlotte.

Not a restaurant, but I have to mention….

The Greener Apple is a new little all-vegan store. I should really say, The Greener Apple is an all-vegan tiny corner of a large book store. Despite it’s surprisingly small size, I did walk out of there with 3 things I was genuinely excited to find – peanut butter cups, dog bisquits, and something like a sponge but much less disgusting than a sponge. Make sure to look for the “Book Buyers” sign in order to find the store.

There are also plenty of grocery stores in Charlotte that have all the vegan food you could want. Healthy Home Market, where I did my grocery shopping this time around, has 3 locations and a ton of gluten-free breads. Earthfare has 2 locations in Charlotte. Berrybrook Farm is a great little health food store in Charlotte, but it’s pretty small. They also have an excellent sandwich shop inside.

Veggie Love (photo from veggieloveasheville.com)

Veggie Love, Asheville’s own vegan and gluten-free food truck, has been around since this past summer. I finally managed to try them out today, when they were parked a few blocks from my house. For such a small city, Asheville always surprises me with all of its vegan resources. I’ve lived in bigger cities that didn’t have this much to offer vegans.

I was tickled to see, painted on the truck, “gluten-free”. I asked if all the food is gluten-free. She was quite definitive. “Yes, everything is always gluten-free, now and forever.” So great. There were also some raw food options as well. They even sell coconut water, which is my latest addiction.

I ordered miso soup with seaweed and a Dosarita, which was just like a south Indian dosa, as far as I could tell.

It’s no 5-star restaurant and the options are limited (it is just a little food truck, after all), but everything I ate was good and healthy too. Definitely a great place to go if you need a quick bite to eat and they’re parked nearby. I’m happy to report that there was a line for food, so hopefully they means they are doing well and will be around for a long while.

Go to their website, www.veggieloveasheville.com, to find out where they’re parked.