Restaurant Review: Rebellious Tomato

The best green deal company, Ethical Deal, ran one for Rebellious Tomato a couple weeks ago and I snatched that up. Its not a vegan pizza shop, but it has tons of vegetarian pizzas and also has vegan cheese!!! I love the Vegan Pizza House on Kingsway but to have a shop I can just walk to a few blocks down is pretty awesome.

There menu is great and if you're a meat eater or have one in your life, this place is awesome cuz everyone will be happy. The pizza is just delish. I like the thin crust. So you get more pizza versus just filling up on the crust. The deal was for 2 medium pizzas. DONE!

I got the Thai Curry Veg with Chilies and the Sweet Inferno, both vegan. Yummers. Like I said, I liked the thin crust. Allows me to eat more without feeling like barfing from eating so much bread. And you taste more of the ingredients by having a thin crust. It had the perfect amount of cheese on it. Not too much that its overpowering and enough that I didn't think they skimped out. 

Sweet Inferno

Thai Curry Veg

Sorry, but I was really hungry. I had just got back from Whistler that afternoon, was kinda hung over, tired, and was sorta boozed. My friends were all enjoying the sun on a patio drinking pitchers of beer so of course I joined them. Life is boring if you're sitting around. Gotta get out there and enjoy it!! After that, I was starving and pizza is always a good idea after drinking your weight in beer. :) I got a little excited and ate a couple slices before I realized I hadn't taken a picture. I was going to nap but there are so few patio days in Vancouver I had to get out there!! 

The only complaint I would have is that there isn't enough chilies on it. But I guess that's just my preference towards spicy food. So I sriracha'd the shit outta it! DUH!

Check them out! They have 2 locations, one on Denman Street at Robson ish and one in North Vancouver. 

Peace

xoxo

K

Restaurant Review: Vegan Pizza House

I have had the pleasure of eating pizza from the Vegan Pizza House on Kingsway about 3 times now. One of the luxuries that vegan's have had to give up in the pasta is delivery pizza. Or dollar slice for that matter (late night pizza for those of you who don't know). Not sure if dollar slice is still around a dollar but in my day it was. ;) Anyways, nowadays there are more and more options like the Loving Hut food truck to provide us with burgers and the Vegan Pizza House to deliver us pizza so we don't have to starve on those Sunday evenings when ur just too lazy to cook.

I know I know, me not want to cook? But it happens. I am constantly cooking so once and a while its nice to order delivery, get take out or have someone cook for me. My FAVE is when a man cooks for me. I guess since I've been cooking since I was 9, its SO nice to have a night off.

One of the best things about the Vegan Pizza House is that even though they are on Kingsway near Victoria, they deliver downtown and the West End!!! Seriously amazing! That's a long way to go and I tip my hat (if I ever wore hats) off to them. Thank you for not cutting us downtown vegans off. :) And they are SUPER friendly.

I got combo 5 which is a medium 3 topping pizza, lasagna, green salad, and garlic toast. HUGE. But I'm a pig. And I didn't eat it all.......in one night. :) I got ham, mushrooms and green peppers. I wanted to get a combo because A) I wanted to try the pasta and B) I wanted the price to be over $20 for them to deliver all the way down here.

I freaking love daiya, and that's the cheese they use. Glorious taste it is. A friend of mine said sometimes there is too much daiya and its an overload but I have yet to experience that. I thought the cheese proportion was pretty bang on. Enough for the cheesy ooey goodness but not too much that you get overwhelmed by it and not taste the rest.

I did have a pic of the lasagna but it won't load. I dunno what the problem is. But it just looks like a normal take out lasagna. Not sure what's in it. But it was pretty simple. I like it enough but I wouldn't get it again. It was nothing special, barely any veggies. Just noodles, sauce and cheese. Meh. A little disappointing but the pizza is SO good that I actually didn't think much about it till now.

So check out their menu on their FB page and order away or check them out in their shop on Kingsway. Its nothing special by any means. A little dive but the best food comes from places like this. Stick to the pizza and you will be mucho happy.

Peace

xoxo

K

Whole Foods to Thrive recipe review: Black bean chili pizza

I love Brendan Brazier. lol I take a few of his products, follow his advice, read his books....etc etc etc. I don't really know why I haven't made any of his recipes yet. I finally decided to make one this weekend. The book is called "Whole Foods to Thrive". It has GREAT information in there about nutrients and foods to eat to get them. And essentially the foods to eat to thrive in life and health. A must read if you ask me. My only complaint for the book is that the binding broke part way through.....could be bc of manufacturing or the fact that I bought it at a used book store.

I made a "pizza" and marinara/pizza sauce. Now, I put pizza in quotations because its not a pizza like how we all know and love pizza. The "dough" is made out of black beans, brown rice, and spices. You can't pick up a slice and eat it; it must be eaten with a fork and knife. BUT all that being said, its DELISH. And I'm not sure what else you would call it anyways. It is def pizza-esque. And I've make a Mexican lasagna that doesn't have noodles and I still call it lasagna so whatevs.

Black Bean Chili Pizza

Crust:

1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice

1 1/2 cup black beans

1/4 cup coconut oil (I subbed olive oil)

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp chili flakes (I added 1.5 tsp)

Sea salt to taste (I added 1/2 tsp)

Topping:

1 tomato, sliced

1/2 onion, diced

1 cup chopped bell peppers

1/2 cup grated beet

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp thyme

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300

2. In a food processor, process all crust ingredients until the mixture starts to ball up

3. Lightly oil the baking trail and spread mixture on tray to about 1/4 inch thick (or whichever thickness you prefer)

4. Top with your choice of sauce (marinara/pizza sauce to follow)

5. Spread toppings evenly on crust

6. Bake for 45 minutes.

NOTE: I didn't use beets. I used 2 sliced Jalapeno peppers. And I forgot the oregano and thyme.

Marinara/Pizza Sauce

Ingredients

1 1/2 sun dried tomatoes

2 Roma tomatoes

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tbsp oregano

1 handful basil

2 tbsp palm nectar granules

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions:

Soak sun dried tomatoes for about 15 minutes (omit if using ones soaked in oil or water). Blend all ingredients except for sun dried tomatoes. Add sun dried tomatoes and blend again.

NOTE: I do not like to use a lot of oil, so I just added 2 tsp of olive oil. And I didn't have palm nectar or any other sweetener in my kitchen, so I just omitted. But if I did, I would have added agave nectar. Also, I used a bit extra basil as fresh basil is so yummy.

Raw dough with marinara sauce

Raw pizza before baking

Cooked and ready to be eaten!

Gobble gobble

I would definitely make this pizza again, or one of the other pizzas in the book. And there are quite a few other recipes that look delectable. So I better get cracking! This was a great spin on a meal that is normally so glutenous. Its gluten free, vegan deliciousness. I felt great after eating it. Not the usual food coma that accompanies such a typical heavy meal. This wasn't heavy at all. Filling and covered all the nutrients that I need.

Good work Brendan!

Peace

xoxo

K