‘VeganPalooza - an event for compassionate foodies, is a brand new addition to the Tasting Australia program this year. Come celebrate a wide array of exquisite plant-based foods and expand your culinary experience on Sunday 14th April 2019, 11am - 6pm at the exciting new MAB Tonsley Innovation District.
VeganPalooza aims to demolish the outdated myth that Vegan food is boring or limiting, showcasing an extensive selection of wonderful foods ranging from juices, vegan cheese, cakes to yiros'. There are thousands of edible plants available in the world, and some of the most talented food creators in South Australia will use these as part of this unique event guaranteeing there will be something for everyone to enjoy.
The global food industry is clambering to keep up with the rapidly growing demand for vegan food, driven by the increasing awareness of animal rights, environmental and health benefits of a plant-based diet.
VeganPalooza is embracing this global shift and championing two of SA’s proudest titles, being leaders in social justice movements and being one of the foodie capitals of Australia, launching with perfect timing in the year The Economist declared, “The year of the Vegan.”
Otherwise known as "The Best Festival, Ever" Womad is a family tradition in our house. It encompasses 4 days of music, dance, food and art in the beautiful Botanic Park, here in Adelaide.
This year, we chose to go on the Saturday due to going to a wedding on the Sunday. I wish I went for the other days, but we've just bought a house and the laws of physics dictate that I can't be everywhere at once, sadly.
We arrived on the Saturday morning. We parked the car and loaded up the pusher with all the things that me, my husband and the kids would need for a killer day. A blanket, sunscreen, hats, refillable drink bottles, reusable straws and cutlery, as well as the all important snacks were crammed into bags and slung onto the back of the pusher.
We arrived at the gates, got our tickets and made our way inside, passed the group of 100 or so people doing yoga amongst the background of huge colourful flags. Now, I don't know about you and your tastes in festival food, but we made a bee line for the kofta balls at the Govinda's stall. For 5 bucks, you can get a huge serve of veggie kofta's covered in a hot tomato sauce. They're crunchy and always delicious. I have been known to get a bit obsessed with them and sink way too many. Yeah, I wouldn't recommend that. One bowl is ample. Our mate, Luke works the Govinda's stall every year. He said that even though it's hard work, it fils his cup for the rest of the year. The vibe of Womad is so earthly and pure and good and sweet, I can see how it would have that effect on him. It's nice to have a little catch up over some yummy food whilst the day gets started.
OPTIONS!
After Kofta's, we went exploring the village. We went into the Womade tent where local artisans were selling finely crafted wears. We went to the Hey, Reflecto stall where the owner thought Gordy was Jack Black and me and the girls got matchy matchy reflective bike vests. My one year old wouldn't take hers off for the rest of the weekend.
Gwenno
We explored the Kidzone. We met up with friends, had a beer and listened as Peter Hellier told us stories that he had written about kids with super powers.
5 Angry Men
Later, we watched 5 Angry Men ring bells of distain and delight, jumping high into the atmosphere as the bells were tolling. Liz Phair taught a new generation about women in rock, and John Butler sang as the sun went down and the moon came up.
I decided to take the fam bam to Salem Cafe, after seeing it pop up in a friend's insta photo. The photo of the seitan burger made me very happy- I love seitan. So late on a bright, Saturday morning we made the pilgrimage down Marion Road to this cute, little cafe. It is small, with a large table in the middle of a beautifully decorated room. Around the table are smaller areas for people to enjoy their meals.
We walked in. Immediately, the staff were warm and welcoming. I'm always a little nervous at this point, as I walk in with two toddlers in tow, knowing this experience of feeding toddlers in public could go either way. Thankfully, they were so stoked by the food that they decided to put it in their mouths instead if around the room.
We were made to feel at home. And the food was amazing. Very much American comfort food, we indulged in some classics- the Fried Seitan Chicken - Sandwich, with coleslaw and hot sauce. The seitan was well cooked- crunchy and golden with a little extra on the side. The coleslaw was crunchy and had the right amount of mayo to bring it together.
Gordy had the The Scully - Pastrami sandwich. I feel that he was going to like this sandwich either way- with the X Files reference in the name or our fond memories of eating vegan pastrami on rye in a bakery in Portland, Oregon. He told me that his experience in eating The Scully was one of the only times that he didn't get food envy, and that the sandwich was just the right amount of food. He wasn't left feeling overfull or hungry.
The kids got the Nicks Hotdog. A tasty vegan hotdog covered in mac n' cheese. They loved it. The girls sat and intently ate the mac and cheese piece by piece before devouring the dog, knowing that this was an exciting and rare experience. We even took home the leftovers and they continued to devour the rest for afternoon tea.
Let's talk about coffee, because coffee is important. The coffee at Salem Cafe was pretty tasty. Their Good Mourning Iced Coffee sounds insane- a double shot espresso and cold brew, served with ice cream and soy milk. Freaking what!? I wasn't game to try it this time around, but maybe next time? Gordy thought the cold brew was rad, and it came in a cute little bottle. Super sweet.
Coffee is the elixir of love, right?
Time to pay. I would have totally gone for dessert, but we were running out of time. The price was reasonable and fair.
Salem Cafe is a gorgeous little cafe serving plant based American style comfort food in a witchy setting. Very cool.
You can find the menu for Salem Cafe here and on Uber Eats if you live near by.
It’s the most marvellous time of the year. The city is alight with buzz and creativity. Festivals abound and everywhere you go, there is colour and happiness.
One thing that is a must-see this time of the year in Adelaide is a place in the parklands at the end of Rundle Street called the Garden of Unearthly Delights. It’s a magical place full of small theatres, roving performers, food, and markets. It’s a fabulous place to spend an evening with your mates having a few drinks. It’s even family friendly during the day, with shows for kids.
The Garden of Unearthly Delights
Every year, I wait in anticipation to go to one of my favourite places to eat- Scallywags Veggie Galley. They sell a burger- the Seitan Burger to be exact- that is so delicious and succulent, I make a bee-line every single year to buy one.
Scallywags Veggie Galley
The burgers are really good value for money- they’re huge! So full of salad, too. I really never feel unsatisfied.
If I’m honest, I’ve already eaten two this year.
What makes this place even better is the staff. They are so nice and welcoming and caring. They treat everyone that visits as a friend, even if you’ve never met them before.
I for one, will always support good people doing good things, because that is what we need more of in the world.
from the show "Glittery Clittery"
If you get an opportunity, supporting Fringe artists by seeing their shows not only benefits them- but you. I've managed to see a couple of ripper shows this year- sadly not as many as I'd like to.
I know it's been a while. I had a 4 year hiatus with having children. Neither of them slept. I woke up 6 times a night minimum and was somehow expected to function- so some things had to give. One of those things was this blog.
And honestly, the internet always scared me a bit. I've received some harassment in these here comments and that made me nervous to open the website and get to work. Having said that, I've met some fabulous people here too, and had some pretty fabulous opportunities. Fuck it. I'm back for more.
And now I've had some sleep, things are hopefully going to be clearer for me.
And what a whole new world it is for vegans!
Vegan magnums and cornettos and Hungry Jack's cheese burgers!
Vegan Cheese in every shop.
Coconut yogurt everywhere!
What a time to be alive.
It's nice to be back.
I plan on writing at least once a week- either a review or a well thought out and planned recipe. Previously, they were a bit haphazard, and I'll be going through them and deleting any that are a bit whack. Leave a comment below if there are any that you are particularly fond of.
Yesterday one of my besties, my restless baby and I ate a delicious meal at Raw&More. I really can't recommend the place highly enough. The staff were attentive, friendly and professional and the food was so flavourful that I'm dreaming about it, even now for breakfast. There was just something about that carrot and coconut salad that got me hooked, and the prices are reasonable too. Unfortunately, my poor little baby is learning the limitations of her body and hit her head on the table after refusing to stay in the high chair. I swear, she's normally so well behaved (I swear! 😜) but she's learning to climb and is desperate for the ability to do that. Her accident initially looked and sounded a lot worse than it is now. I thought she'd have a bruiser for sure but luckily it's just a scratch. The staff were so friendly and helpful when this happened, getting some ice and coming to make sure Edie was ok. And for that reason, I'll make sure I'm a regular customer. It's refreshing to go to a place where they treat you more like a friend then a customer, plus the food is outstanding. Thanks Raw&More. You guys rock!
The OzAsia festival is always a beautiful & compelling sight. Our Australian culture is highly influenced by our Asian neighbours and friends and it's great to have this opportunity to learn more from them. Plus, I love Asian food. When my husband suggested we go and get some food from the Night Noodle Markets (brought here from their regular haunt in Sydney) I was keen.
Held around the Adelaide Festival Centre, the Night Noodle Market consisted of at least 20 different stalls each with their own delicious looking food for offer. Walking passed Mai Kitchen Vietnamese Cuisine, I got excited when I saw the words 'vegan' and 'satay' together. The food was great and the people were friendly.
The market was decked out beautifully, with gorgeous colours and plants everywhere. I did wonder what they were going to do with the plants once the festival was over. I'll have them if they don't want them- haha!
Thank you OzAsia Festival for making Adelaide so pretty.
Recently, I was wondering aimlessly around the internet when I came across this menu.
You had me at zucchini fritters for $4!! Yum!
The Lady Daly hotel is a beautiful pub with a great beer garden situated on Port Road near the Entertainment Centre tram stop. They have pool tables and often have vegan food nights. So great to see places embrasing veganism like this- and doing it half price!
This book couldn't have arrived at a better time for me. During my pregnancy, I fell into some bad habits. Often, it would reach the end of the day and I would reflect back on what I had eaten and realise that it was all horribly beige. I gained a substantial amount of weight but with all the nausea, grabbing what food was immediately available was the only way to go. This was usually bread and nuts.
I don't know about you, but sometimes when I get into these ruts, it's a little hard to find the inspiration to get creative with a bag of carrots or a head of cabbage.
Introducing more colours into our diets seems simple and obvious enough. Honestly though, the correlation between the word "diet" and the idea of plain, boring, tasteless rabbit food leaves a lot to be desired. And this is what Muelrath talks about in her book The Plant-Based Journey: that we really can eat healthier, eat foods that taste great and are quick to prepare, fill us up and feel a million times better. It's not as hard as it had previously appeared to be.
Muelrath as she says, has created this book to assist people like me in unraveling my way of thinking about food so that we have all the tools we need to make a change without the usual downfalls.
There are six sections to The Plant-Based Journey, each one a new baby step on the way to increasing our fruit and vegetable intake. The sections start from the very beginning of the transition phase and from there Muelrath uses easy to read prose to provide information and examples of ways in which we could improve our health and well being.
Muelrath has a background in fitness and nutrition and her passion is obvious whilst reading The Plant-Based Journey. Muelrath gives ideas of serving sizes, which is honestly refreshing. So many times I have picked up raw cookbooks and found them to be laden with recipes full of nuts and agave nectar. Now, I could eat that all day, but those ingredients still lack the colours that I'm looking for which Muelrath provides.
Chapter 4 is an interesting one for me. Here, Muelrath has written about hunger satisfaction and how to reach it. I have been known in the past to deliberately push passed that "full" feeling in order to eat more. Crazy, I know. This chapter discusses how to achieve that full-feeling on a plant based diet. How many people have you met that say they don't feel full on salad and vegetables? I've met far too many.
But that's the thing. Many people just don't understand how to use vegetables. To many people, eating vegetables means a leaf of lettuce and a wedge of tomato or some over boiled broccoli and some fat laden mashed potato. Muelrath gives great examples of how to construct a meal with all the right components to leave us feeling full and satisfied.
The Plant-Based Journey has a handy recipe section and shopping list as well as a guide to substitutions.
Overall, The Plant-Based Journey by Lani Muelrath is a great way to learn about how to include more fruit and vegetables in your life and make better choices when it comes to health an nutrition.
Below is a video from a segment on CBS where Lani Muelrath discusses how simple going plant-based can be.
To celebrate the books release, OTKK is giving away one copy! To win, all you need to do is leave a comment. The winner will be announced on Wednesday the 1st of October.
