Vegan Dining Options in Asheville, NC (Part 7)
Asheville’s vibrant restaurant scene is often compared to Portland, Oregon’s (often referred to its sister city) but its not because both cities have numerous vegan restaurants. Instead both cities are known for being incredibly tolerant and accommodating to diners preferences. Plant-based options are available at most restaurants even when the menu doesn’t list a vegan option.
There are many fine, casual, southern, Mexican, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Thai, Chinese, and Indian restaurants in Asheville. Here’s just a few that offer some great vegan dining options: Read more 
Nana Joes Granola Bars
Looking for a granola bar that is vegan, gluten-free and made with organic ingredients? How about a granola bar that tastes crunchy, delicious, and satisfying? Then Nana Joes Granola Bars are the bomb. Handmade in San Francisco, Nana Joes Granola Bars come in four flavors, three of which have a base of oats and maple syrup and one with a base of unsweetened coconut chips and maple syrup: Read more
Summer Greens and Berries
Eating light in the summertime is as easy as tossing a salad together with fresh seasonal produce. Fill a large bowl with assorted greens (the darker the better) and then add a handful of blackberries, blueberries, and sliced strawberries along with a chopped avocado and sliced almonds for an added crunch. Drizzle some balsamic vinaigrette or your favorite dressing over the top, toss and serve. Lunch never tasted so good! Read more
Summer Chopped Salad
A few days ago I was making a party platter of fresh cut vegetables to dip in hummus when I realized I don’t know that many people who eat raw red, orange, or yellow pepper slices (and, I don’t know anyone who dips green pepper slices into hummus although there must be some green pepper fans out there).
So, I quickly decided to omit the peppers and instead use these “capsicums” (as they are called in Australia and India) to make a chopped salad. But, because peppers can be overpowering I added mangos, peaches, and the juice from a navel orange along with fresh flat leaf parsley, and a touch of salt and pepper to make a colorful, delicious, crunchy, and slightly sweet, savory side dish. Read more
Granola Bites by the Organic Pantry Co.
For plant-based eaters who prefer a farmer’s market over an outdoor vegan fest, please know I get it. It’s not that vegan foods are bad, although there are certainly a lot of unhealthy ones out there, its that far too often these products contain oil, refined sugar, syrups, or other undesirable sweeteners, too much sodium, or ingredients that I can’t pronounce.
If most of your diet is whole food plant-based then very few commercially prepared foods are on your pantry’s shelf or in the refrigerator or freezer because finding really stellar products – foods made with top notch ingredients without all the additives, and that taste great – is tough (there is just no getting around being vigilant and reading labels).
Every once in a while, a truly great product is introduced (and it feels like a reward when you find it), which is the case with Granola Bites by the Organic Pantry Co. Granola Bites are tasty pieces of granola (almost like thin crunchy cookies) with mulberries (Cashew, Date & Mulberry) or coconut and raisins (Coconut, Cacao, and Raisin) : Read more
The Coconut Sugar Peanut Butter Cup
The peanut butter cup is one of America’s fave treats for good reason: rich, creamy peanut butter enrobed in luscious chocolate is an unbeatable combination loved by adults and children alike. There’s really nothing quite like a peanut butter cup, especially one made by Eat Chic Chocolates of Brooklyn, New York.
The company’s classic peanut butter cup – the Peanut Butter Cup with Sea Salt (made with 71% dark chocolate) – is exquisite but its the Coconut Sugar Peanut Butter Cup that’s garnering lots of attention. Why you ask? Because this peanut butter cup has only 2 grams of sugar (unrefined coconut sugar) per peanut butter cup (compared to 8 grams in the same sized Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup).
The Coconut Sugar Peanut Butter Cup is a healthier and more delicious version of the quintessential peanut butter cup, especially if your passion is for dark chocolate and a peanut butter cup that isn’t overly sweet.
These peanut butter cups are made with 3 major ingredients:
Organic Pantry Flaxseed Crackers
As a general rule, I prefer to make my food from fresh, organic ingredients but when a company makes a truly great product (meaning the ingredients are excellent and the flavor is exceptional), I am thrilled to save the time and effort it takes to make something from scratch like dark chocolate (Dr-Cow, Pascha chocolate chips), kombucha (GT’s), beans (Eden), nut milk (Milkadamia), nut butters (CB’s, Nuttzo), pesto (Seggiano), potato chips (José Andrés) and most recently, crackers (The Organic Pantry Flaxseed Crackers). Read more
Oat Bars
One of the challenges of eating a plant-based diet is finding ways to make desserts with little or no oil and no refined sugar. But, the challenge is deeper than that because a truly nutritious treat is also about what is included. Ideally, ingredients that stand alone as nutritious and delicious.
I started with a recipe called Pumpkin Seed and Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Breakfast Bars by Dreena Burton and adapted the ingredients to come up with a recipe for Oat Bars that contain whole grain oats, whole grain oat flour, seeds, nuts, spices, date syrup, dark chocolate chips, and non-dairy milk. Basically, these bars are whole-grain and plant-based with no dairy, no oil, no refined sugar, and no eggs.
Oat Bars have a base of rolled oats and oat flour whose flavor is enhanced with what I call “the big 3” – pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and dark chocolate chips. The big 3 are simply three wholesome ingredients that are super tasty together. But, if you find raisins, walnuts, and sunflower seeds more to your liking, make a substitution. Read more
Dr-Cow Raw Chocolate Bricks
One of the great benefits of following a plant-based diet is enjoying dark chocolate whose subtle differences in taste, texture, and aroma become more pronounced over time. Acquiring a taste for dark chocolate evolves but once you’ve come to appreciate the purity and intensity of dark chocolate, you’ll never want to eat milk chocolate ever again. The difference is really that striking.
Dr-Cow, a small storefront in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn is known for making organic, raw, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, and soy-free food products, especially tree nut cheese, granola, biscotti, crackers, desserts, and chocolates. Read more
Mu Mu Muesli
Simply the best cereal on the market.
Muesli is a breakfast cereal made up of raw rolled oats, grains, dried fruits, nuts, and seeds that is typically enjoyed with your favorite type of milk or yogurt (note: I find it especially delicious with unsweetened Milkadamia – a non-dairy nut milk).
Some people claim that muesli is just raw granola but that description doesn’t do the Swiss invention justice. While many of the ingredients are the same, muesli differs from granola in three ways: muesli is not baked, does not contain oil, and typically has no added sweeteners. Read more
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