The post Shopping Vegan in Bushwick | #VeganShopUp appeared first on No Stranger to Us.
]]>

Vegan Shop Up has partnered with Pine Box Rock Shop many times and you can keep tabs on when the next event will be held by following their updates here. This was the first time we had attended the event and when we arrived just about 30 minutes after the start time the place was packed. There were so many bodies you could really empathize with livestock!

I immediately found the Screamer’s Pizzeria stall and quickly ordered a white pizza. The pizza is made with almond ricotta vegan cheese, oregano and oil drizzle. The dough of the pizza was perfect. It was salty, garlic-y and soft and crispy. The cheese was so creamy and at $5 a slice I was very easily sold.

Cooper spotted our local vegan cheese shop Riverdel Cheese and the hearty looking grilled Havarti cheese sandwiches. The sandwich is made with vegan havarti cheese, pickles, and dijonaise on a thick country bread


The line for Peaceful Provisions doughnuts snaked through the whole space. You could hear ravenous vegans asking, “Is this seriously the line for the donuts?!” over and over again. The popularity peaked our interest so we begrudgingly joined the line and began making friends with others and chatted about all of the options while we waited for the sweet treats.

By the time we reached the front of the line we were able to order the coveted Cannoli and Key Lime donuts. The Cannoli doughnut is filled with decadent cannoli vegan cream, and topped with chocolate icing, crushed cannoli shells and powered sugar. The Key Lime doughnut is filled with lime cured and topped with a bruleed fluff.

These beauties were absolutely worth the wait.

We just had to share a picture of these gorgeous macaroons from Sweet Maresas, even though we didn’t try any.
The post Shopping Vegan in Bushwick | #VeganShopUp appeared first on No Stranger to Us.
]]>The post Eating La Vida Vegana | Vegan Menu at Citrico appeared first on No Stranger to Us.
]]>
This week, February 20th – 26th there is a special vegan menu created in partnership with Riverdel Cheese shop hosted at Citrico. They took classic Mexican recipes and used vegan cheese from the Riverdel Cheese shop. I am fortunate to be able to take advantage of the robust amount of vegan food options that Brooklyn has to offer. In particular I always have my eye out for vegan cheese because of my allergy to Casein.

I have struggled with a casein allergy for most of my life and I have completely cut it out of my diet for 3 years now. Since casein is a protein found in milk, I can’t eat cheese, which is in almost everything on an Mexican food menu. My casein allergy is nothing like lactose intolerance which affects the gastrointestinal tract. If I eat milk, yogurt or cheese my lips will swell and my throat closes.
I ordered a three course vegan meal that I will probably be thinking about for weeks. I usually can’t ordered these options at other Mexican restaurants and I have to tell you that everything was delicious.
The first course I ordered was a classic Mexican street food snack called Esquites. This is one of my all time favorite appetizers, and I haven’t had it in a very long time. Generally, it is prepared by boiling fresh corn in water and then it is sautéed in butter, onions, chiles and salt. It came to the table in an adorable small pot, topped with lime juice, chile powder, vegan chipotle mayo and vegan queso.
The mushroom taco was by far my favorite dish. This taco had a very balanced umami flavor profile and had a meaty and creamy texture. The mushrooms were perfectly sautéed in a pasilla salsa and were topped with vegan crema and queso. I could have eaten two more of these.
My main entree was three enchiladas filled with squash blossoms and topped with a classic mole sauce and vegan crema. The mole sauce in this dish is customarily made using a mole poblano pepper. Depending on the amount of fruit and chili pepper added, a mole sauce can be characteristically bitter and smokey. The vegan crema was a perfect paring for these enchiladas.
Cooper and I were able to take advantage of Citrico’s happy hour (Goes till 8:00pm) and both ordered some very strong and tart margaritas to go with our meal. Cooper ordered blue corn tortilla fish tacos. It isn’t vegan but it is tasty and pretty.
The post Eating La Vida Vegana | Vegan Menu at Citrico appeared first on No Stranger to Us.
]]>