Sunday, June 29, 2008

If Julie Andrews were vegan...

Would she sing about her list of favorite vegan things? Well, just like 'silver white winters that melt into Spring'... these are a few of my favorite (vegan) things.

This list is certainly not complete, but it includes some of recent finds and faves that I've been wanting to share with you, so here we go.

(1) First, and most importantly, ice cream. I cannot tell you the delight I experienced when I saw Good Karma ice cream in our local health food store (Choices Market, for any BC'ers out there). Now, I had heard much raving about the 'Carrot Cake' flavor before trying any of the flavors. So, I picked up one of each flavor available in our store - Carrot Cake, Vanilla, Mint Chocolate Swirl, Coconut Mango, and Mocha Mudd Pie. We still don't have the Banana Fudge or Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge (bring 'em in Choices!). I had to try the Carrot Cake flavor first, though it wasn't my favorite. It was creamy and tasty, but I guess I was expecting more after the buzz, just like some of you no doubt experience with recipe hype! I still buy the carrot cake flavor occasionally, but my very favorites are the Vanilla and Coconut Mango. The Vanilla is the creamiest, most authentic vanilla flavor I have yet to try in a non-dairy ice cream. And, it isn't sickly or heavy as some ice creams can be. The Coconut Mango is creamy and refreshing, with a swirl of fruity mango through the frozen dessert. The Mocha Mudd Pie is also incredible, but I don't like the caffeine later in the day (though, I've been known to enjoy a morning ice cream treat, and this Mocha Mudd Pie is my first pick when the sun rises!) Overall, this is seriously excellent ice cream, and is also soy-free for those of you with soy allergies. You know, you folks in the US are lucky. You have the full offerings of this Good Karma brand, and also Temptation non-dairy ice cream, and Wheeler's brand, and others. (Sadly, I haven't tried either Temptation or Wheeler's brand, which is almost criminal given my deep affection for ice cream. For those of you that watch the Food Network, if you've ever heard Bobby Flay mention that ice cream is his favorite dessert - I'm entirely in agreement - I eat some ice cream every day). Let's move on from ice cream. I realize it doesn't excite some of you quite the same. (??!)

(2) Next up is Salba Tortilla Chips. Now, these are great tasting, crunchy tortilla chips that have Salba seed added to the corn in the chip! You don't know the salba seeds are there... you just munch and enjoy awesome tortilla chips. Now, let's face it, we're probably not getting a huge nutritional benefit from the Salba in a handful of chips... but, let's also face it, some of us eat much more than a handful! So, you may as well get some nutritional powerhouse Salba seeds into us while indulging!

(3) Parma 'vegan parmesan'. I love this stuff. There was a time I didn't like nutritional yeast. But I think any of you that want an introduction to nutritional yeast should first try Parma. It's the combination of raw walnuts and salt (and 'love') with the nutritional yeast that makes this product much more than nutritional yeast. And the whole is more than the sum of the parts (again, must be that 'love' in the mix that makes the difference). For some reason, this cheesy topping is tastier than you think it should be, the ingredients are so simple. One caution: I don't think it tastes like parmesan, for those of you thinking it will. It's not like dairy parmesan. (thank goodness) For me, it's something better, and cleaner tasting... and altogether addictive. I seriously can't get enough of this stuff! I order mine through cosmos or vegan essentials, and yes, I'm willing to pay the ridiculous shipping and sometimes custom charges to keep a regular stock of Parma. We use it daily - on salads, soups, sandwiches - and our girls love it mixed with Goddess Dressing for 'dipping'.

(4) Living Nutz seasoned raw nuts. These I also ordered from vegan essentials (again, maybe Cosmos might also carry them soon). One of our daughters is crazy about the Vegan Cheezy Almonds, pictured right. They really do taste 'cheezy', but don't include any nutritional yeast! They are such a healthful snack, and again, worth ordering online (at least to me). I also love the sweeter varieties of the Banana Bread Walnuts, and Cinna-Pecan-Bun - all three varieties are being regularly stocked in our house!

(5) Theo Chocolate Fig, Fennel, and Almond Bar. This bar isn't available in our area, I was lucky enough to try a sample. I am a huge fan of both fig and fennel, and so this bar hit my sweet spot. In fact, I would have enjoyed it without the almonds and with even more fig and fennel... but that's just me and how much I appreciate the fig and fennel flavor marriage... and the almonds certainly do provide a nutty balance to the fig and fennel flavor points. Theo chocolate is fair trade and certified organic. Not all varieties are vegan, but this flavor is. So, if you see this Fig, Fennel and Almond bar in your area - pick one up to try... it's a winner!

(6) Artisana Raw Cashew Butter. For a long time now, I've been searching high and low for a raw cashew butter. Not to eat 'raw', but for the taste of raw cashews in a nut butter. Regular cashew butter is tan in color, and has a distinctive roasted cashew taste. Not raw cashew butter. It is creamy white in color, and has a delicate buttery creamy taste - just like raw cashews. You'll see me playing with this in upcoming recipes. As a side note, Artisana also carries raw pecan and walnut butters (also fantastic), and raw coconut butter products, like their "Cocoa Bliss"... which when lightly melted (even in a warm room) is rich and cocoa-y... I've enjoyed it straight off the spoon! You can buy them online at vegan essentials (maybe cosmos will carry them soon as well). I also recently found them at our local Choices Market - but note that the label may be a little different than the one pictured.

(7) Simple Foods Soy Nut Butter. This is an organic roasted soy nut spread, and there are several flavor varieties. Two that I have tried and really like are the Cinnamon Sugar and Chocolate. Why I like this spread is that with all the peanut/nut allergies present with today's kids and the food restrictions in schools, this gives us parents an easy option for a 'pb&j' sandwich without the 'pb'. I recently found it, and it expanded my options from using hemp nut butter (with cinnamon/agave nectar) or sunflower butter (with jam) in our daughter's lunches. Now that we have just finished the school year, you may not use this too much, but when the school year starts again in September keep this product in mind. You can use it on sandwiches, or sandwiches in crackers for recess, or spread on celery in place of pb for the classic 'ants on a log'. Plus, if you use the chocolate spread, your kids think they are getting a special chocolate treat!

(8) Finally as I begin with ice cream, I must end with ice cream. With this ice cream, however, I'm unable to say I love it. Only because it's not yet available in Canada, and I haven't yet sampled it. I simply anticipate that I will dearly love this ice cream. Made without dairy, and without soy... made with coconut milk! And I had wondered why Turtle Mountain changed their line of ice creams from the 'Soy Delicious' branding to the current 'So Delicious'. Now I'm suspecting that this name change was part of their strategy for expansion into soy-free ice cream novelties. I'm not sure if that's the case, just my suspicion. Really, it doesn't matter to me. Turtle Mountain has been producing wonderful soy ice creams for years now, and I think this is a very exciting development in their product line. I can't wait to get my hands on this line of coconut ice cream - between the Good Karma line of rice ice creams, and Turtle Mountain's new coconut milk ice creams, I may never eat soy ice creams again. (but don't hold me to that) :)

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

TOO many delicious things!!! Ah, it bites when you can't get ALL these goodies in Canada. I feel so deprived.

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Great list!! My parents LOVE the new soy-free, coconut-based Purely Decadent ice 'cream.'

aimee said...

This is an excellent list, Dreena! I love the Good Karma rice cream. So many tasty flavors (coconut mango is my current summertime fave!) i just tried the So Delicious vanilla bean coconut ice cream and, let me just say, beg your grocer to carry it!! It is unbelievably delicious!
Thanks to one of your earlier recommendations I decided to try sunflower butter and I am in love! I don't have children but I do love "pb&j" and this is such a nice alternative to the pb!
Thanks, as always, for a great post!

Meridith said...

So many good suggestions. Parma is so delicious! I have been know to eat spoonfuls of it, it's that good.

Sheree' said...

You will love the new Purely Decadent coconut based ice cream. They are to drool for! I hope they come your way soon! I also have to rave about parma! Fantastic stuff!!!

Anonymous said...

It does suck not to be able to get stuff in Canada, but we can get some of these - thanks for bringing them to my attention!

(You know it's "silver-white winters" eh?)

:-)

Anonymous said...

Love your faves list! I haven't tried the new Purely Decadent coconut ice cream, as I haven't seen it locally yet. However, I recently tried the Coconut Bliss ice cream in the naked coconut flavor, and it is absolutely fabulous! I highly recommend Coconut Bliss. http://www.coconutbliss.com/

Dreena said...

Hiya guys!

Thanks Aimee, and I'm glad you've been enjoying the sunflower butter... and believe me, I'll be having a chat of high importance with the Choices manager next time I'm shopping!! (how loooong will I have to wait, though?!!) :)

anonymous, ha, thanks for catching that... my typing gets ahead of my brain sometimes - now fixed!

Anonymous said...

I thought raw cashews were very, very poisonous? Or is it their shells? Can anybody clarify that?
Also, I recently made my own dairy-free ice cream with a combination of soy and coconut milk. Yes, the coconut adds a certain extra-richness without being overly processed.

I'm also from Canada, in fact, from the prairies, where finding some of these particular products is nearly impossible, what with everyone being all about the meat and dairy industries (although, it's getting better, and we've had a few more health food stores open up lately). I usually rely on making things from scratch whenever I can, because it's easier to find raw ingredients than specific brand-name products most of the time.

The Voracious Vegan said...

Wow, what a great post! Too much yumminess, I don't know where to start. Carrot cake ice-cream? Yes please! I can't wait to move back to the states so I can sample these delectable goodies!

Animal-Friendly said...

Everything on your list looks delicious! I'm going to be searching for raw cashew butter and flavored soy nut butter in my area now!

I absolutely LOVE Good Karma ice cream! The carrot cake flavor was one of the first vegan ice creams I ever tried, so it does have a special place in my heart :) Oh, I recently purchased one of their new flavors, Key Lime Pie, and I definitely suggest trying it if you can find it! Also, you MUST get your hands on some Temptation ice cream sometime- it is some super addicting stuff

Wheeler's Frozen Dessert said...

Ooh, everything looks awesome! Nice list!

Peace, Love and Veganism said...

Yes, Yes, Yes! I feel like Meg Ryan when I eat the carrot cake Rice Dream. It is my all-time favorite. But that's just because I love carrot cake. I've got to try the coconut versions, because that is my definite favorite flavor! By the way, I made your Peanut Butter in my Chocolate Cookies the other day and got rave reviews!! Your salad dressings have also been making my day.

TammyLee said...

Not to rub it in, but I did have Purely Decadent Coconut Milk Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (gluten free) ice "cream" two weeks ago.... and it was blissful. I so hope Canada gets it soon so you can try it!!

PS Happy Canada Day tomorrow!

Vegan Dogs said...

You should try Coconut Bliss. It's completely organic & only made with coconut milk & agave syrup.
I love the fact that it's completely simple in ingredients & that it's the best frozen desert I've ever had!
http://www.coconutbliss.com/

Anonymous said...

It's incredible all the substitute food we can find at the supermarker or nearby grocery store making delicious the transition to a healthy vegan diet.

Anonymous said...

The coconut milk ice cream is incredible, and it's great because it doesn't feel like a "vegan ice cream" it feels like the real deal. So rich and creamy!

Anonymous said...

A propos poison in the raw cashews, Nikki, I used to know a guy from Africa whose family had a cashew, what? - farm? orchard? wtv, they grew cashews, and no, the cashew itself isn't poisonous, but the lining of the shell is and the cashews have to be cooked to an extent (they boil them, roast them, I can't remember, this was a long time ago) to remove them from the shell. So they're not COMPLETELY raw, they're just unroasted.

Dreena said...

anonymous, thanks for your info about the cashews. Nikki, I haven't heard much about that topic myself. I have heard that when eating raw nuts and seeds, that it is beneficial to soak them first. You will find info about this in raw food circles, and how saoking nuts & seeds makes them more digestible, and the nutrients more accessible. I don't think this is what you had been hearing, it sounds like what you've heard is more specific to cashews, so hopefully what anonymous has detailed has cleared up the confusion for you. And, btw, I agree, that being in Canada and seeing all the US products from afar can be tough. Sometimes we never see these products because some smaller companies (and even some larger ones) don't want to change their labels to reflect our french labelling requirements. It's too bad, but I guess our population size is not big enough for some companies to make those changes.

Now guys, to the rest of you... I'm real happy that you're all lovin' the coconut ice cream, but okay, I've heard enough about how good it is!! No fair, it's ice cream torture okay?!! :)
(oh, and the Coconut Bliss ice cream isn't available here either). boo.

aTxVegn said...

I love Good Karma ice cream and another soyfree that is not yet nationwide - NadaMoo.

That particular Theo bar would not appeal to me, but I give thumbs up to the all dark chocolate bar. I don't eat ice cream everyday, but I do eat chcoolate everyday...

Amey said...

This post is making me drool. I haven't tried the other flavors of Rice Dreams besides Carrot Cake, but now I definitely will!

Don't be too jealous of us Americans, in California we don't have Wheelers or Temptation either. Boo hoo!

I've seen those simple soy butters, mostly I just love that packaging. So cute! I've especially eyed the chocolate flavor. Maybe I'll pick it up next time.

Speaking of great packaging, I've long admired those chocolate bars, but I've never seen a vegan flavor. Fig and Fennel sounds AWESOME. Plus, I used to live on Phinney Ave in Seattle...

Thanks for a great post. I always love learning about new products.

Jecca said...

I have to also speak up about Temptation...I LOVE Mint Chocolate Chip and the french vanilla is very yummy too. I have yet to try other flavors...just me in this house and I don't eat a ton of ice cream. I really want to try their Teese cheese also...which you could get from Vegan Essentials.

Thanks for the great list! I'll be trying the Good Karma ice cream now because of your recommendation.

Anonymous said...

I just found your blog and am suddenly asking myself why I never looked it up before! I live in Vancouver and love your cookbooks. I also love icecream so I can't wait to try the Good Karma rice cream. Currently I buy Purely Decadent, but I can't wait to try the coconut-based! I'll be reading you blog from now on!

Anonymous said...

I found the cookie dough version of the coconut milk Turtle Mountain in my grocery store last week, and I thought I would give it a shot although I'm typically a "So Delicious" type of girl. Well, I never anticipated how ridiculously happy this ice cream would make me! First of all, I adore cookie dough, and this brand doesn't deprive you of huge chunks of dough. Next, the coconut flavor and texture is incredible. Put some vegan whip cream on top, and you're in heaven.