Well, the eating continues here in pays de boeuf, and it’s been remarkably easy to find vegan victuals.
There is a large Chinese supermarket, T&T, with a good offering of interesting things for vegans, including an impressive selection of faux meat from Vancouver’s West Best Vegetarian Market. Veggie shrimp, smoked chicken, roast chicken, crab stick and much more! Their hot food takeaway has a couple of vegan selections as well, and of course there are all of the interesting Chinese fruits and vegetables, including the very smelly durian fruit. (Novelist Anthony Burgess compared eating durian to “eating sweet raspberry blancmange in the lavatory”. Errr, I’ll pass on that, I think.)
Now on to the latest selection of vegan yummies:
Harvey’s veggie burger
Oh, this was soooo yummy! I really like the way Harvey’s assembles the burger in front of you, so you can choose exactly what goes on your burger. No accidental mayo mistakes! And only $3.79.
Subway veggie delite sandwich
The Subway chain has restaurants worldwide. This sandwich is piled high with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, olives, green pepper, onion and hot peppers, and topped with mustard and sweet onion dressing. Subway will lightly toast the inside of the bun on request, and this is definitely the way to go, as it keeps the sandwich from getting soggy. Cheap at $3.29 and oh so good!
T&T steamed vegetarian bun
I love love LOVE Chinese steamed buns. These are huge, and stuffed with all kinds of yummy vegetables. Great value… only $1.59.
Bean curd sheet & broccoli with rice noodles
One of T&T’s hot food takeaway selections is “bean curd sheet in mushroom sauce”. Yummtastic. With rice noodles (also from T&T), and broccoli, this made a delicious meal. A large container of bean curd sheet is $7.99, but that’s enough for four or five portions when served with noodles and veg.
Yves veggie bacon butty
Safeway (and probably the other supermarkets too) sell the Yves line of veggie faux meats, including these bacon strips, which are better than the Redwood ones that I buy at home. Makes one fine butty. Around $3.79 a package, but you get 12 strips.
Pasta with spicy red pepper sauce and veggie chicken
Rice noodles from T&T ($1.77 for 1 pound package) + Safeway Select spicy red pepper pasta sauce ($2.80 for 700ml jar) + Eating Right veggie “chicken” from Safeway ($4.99 for two breasts) = one scrumptious meal. The veggie chicken is made from Gardein, which is the same ingredient that’s in Grassington’s veggie peppered steaks & chicken fillets, available back home.
I am well impressed with the variety of vegan food available here. I even noticed three vegan cookbooks for sale at Safeway. Clearly those interested in healthy vegan food are making their voices heard, and restaurants and supermarkets are listening!
Jesus Murphy! Food is cheap in Edmonton. You could buy a mickey or a two-four with the loonies left over.
🙂
yay for veggie knowledge around the world!!!
that’s some mighty fine eats you’ve got there babe! i love that fluffy white buns thingy.yuuuums!
and i love durian too! i know it has such a strong smell and weird taste but i love it!!!hehehe
i am glad you’re posting…miss ya mucho!
muahhhaaaa
Wow! Great to know about all these options. Subway is my fast food standby..their wheat roll is not vegan but the italian one is. And the veggie burgers they sell are not vegan unfortunately..thank goodness for veggie d’lite! yay about all the other options!
Jeni — you have either been to Canada or have spent a lot of time hanging around Canadians, eh?
Denny — maybe one day I will be brave enough to try durian.
Amanda — the Subway here doesn’t have the veggie burger option, but I remember the one in Vancouver did. Too bad it’s not vegan.
Wow, you sure got creative in your searches for vacation food! I’ve just been traveling also and enjoyed seeing your take on things. Hummous and carrots sounds good, but then I like shredded carrots on ANYTHING. (Check out my friend Andrea’s blog for the macaroons I just ate this evening: cookeasyvegan.blogspot.com) Enjoy Canada! And keep taking those photos!
Looks like you found some tasty eats during your journey. I was thinking about you today because I am trying your faux ham recipe! I had no smoked tofu so I used liquid smoke instead. It is steaming as I write this–fingers crossed it turns out as good as yours, although I know it won’t look as nice! Happy travels. 🙂
I just don’t understand this faux this and faux that. If you are a vegetarian than that should be it. If you crave the taste of meat products to the point that you need imitations, than in fact you are cheating yourself and your body. Those products are full of (undeclared on the labels) stuff that are not really good for you. Best is to figure out a nutritionally balanced, as natural as possible, truly vegan diet and learn to enjoy it, without commercial make-believe… 🙂
Hi FECHO,
I became vegan because I don’t want to harm animals. But I grew up eating meat, and what I remember as the taste of “chicken” or “bacon” doesn’t gross me out, as long as there is no actual animal content. I do agree that less commercially processed diets are healthier, which is why I make my own veggie sausages, burgers, etc. (Ideally, I’d like to get to the point where I don’t use any commercial faux meat products, except when travelling).
Of course, the standard meat-based diet is full of “undeclared” ingredients like cancer-causing nitrates (ham, bacon, deli meat), hormones (meat & dairy products), antibiotics (meat), dioxin (meat, fish dairy), mercury (fish), artificial colours (farmed fish) and so on.
It’s not so much that I crave the taste of meat, but I do like hearty, rich flavours and toothsome textures. A lot of vegan food ingredients are very reminiscent of meat flavours: Marmite, soy sauce & mushrooms lend a beefy flavour; nutritional yeast and sage, a chickeny flavour; nori or other seaweed, a fishy flavour.
Also, I enjoy chewy protein foods like seitan and fried tofu. I like beans and lentils too, but they have a soft texture which isn’t always what I’m craving. Veggie burgers, sausages, etc are also very convenient and make for quick meals when pressed for time.
A “truly vegan” diet is one which contains no animal products or derivatives, regardless of whether it consists of faux chicken and chips, or lentils and bean sprouts.
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
I love meat and could never give it up, but I am glad there is a good selection of food you actually enjoy if you have made the choice not to eat meat.
It is nice you are sharing your experiences and helping others.