A Vegan in the Maritimes

Family things have unexpectedly brought me out to Saint John New Brunswick. I was hoping to have a little travel break for a few weeks, but it was not to be. So here I am.. eating in airports again and working up the energy to explain my dietary choices to everyone out here. It is tricky, because I don't want to offend people here and there are lot of elderly that just can't see beyond meat and potatoes.

I had a very pleasant surprise when I arrived, 'fresh' of the red eye and starving. I am staying with my Aunt and Uncle and they have another family member that recently made the switch to a full vegan diet. He switched for health (high cholesterol) and apparently loved it ever since. When I got to the house, I expected not a lot I could eat beyond grains and veggies, but to my surprise, there was bruschetta pizza and vegan cupcakes! They were super good too!

I did a bit of a search before heading out here to see what the vegan food situation would be like and it seemed grim at first, but yesterday I had an excellent meal at a Thai restaurant called Suwana Restaurant on the west side. All of the entrees had a tofu option and the pad Thai was vegan. I also had a great salad with carrots, cabbage and a tangy spicy dressing. It was really, really good. The restaurant is in an old, old house so the surroundings are really neat. Something you don't really get in Edmonton.

Saint John has also got sushi now and apparently a very decent range of veggie sushi is available. I heard the restaurant to go to is A Taste of Sushi in uptown SJ. I likely won't have a chance to go this trip, but it is comforting to know it is there. Previous trips have gotten me and my sister to drive 90 minutes to fulfill a sushi craving.

One thing, that I have forgotten about that is really a maritime delicacy is cherry cream cheese sandwiches. I am planning to attempt the vegan version when I get home as I could not find toffutti out here. The sandwich is simple and very pretty looking. To the non-east coast people out there, it seems odd and to some... gross. Once you try, you will love.

Maritimer Cherry Cream Cheese Sandwiches

• 1 tub of toffutti cream cheese (regular about 16 oz)
• 1 large jar of maraschino cherries
• bread
• Margarine

Simplest recipe ever. Get a tub of cream cheese and put it in a bowl and soften. Cut up the maraschino cherries and add them to the cream cheese with a little of the juice. Stir well. Get some sandwich bread (you can make in tea style sandwiches or you can roll them) and remove the crust (I know the crust is healthier, but I have never seen them with the crust). spread a little margarine if you want on the bread and add a generous dollop of the mixture. If you want rolls, simply role the single slice of bread up and then cut into 1-2" slices.

So good, it is almost like cheese cake in sandwich forms. I forget about these little sandwiches, but they have an appearance all maritime functions. Perfect for tea, receptions, showers etc etc.

I think I will be making these at home when I get back. It is time Alberta got a little taste of maritime traditional food :)

Sorry, no pictures again. I didn't bring my camera. It makes for a less interesting post, but hopefully it's not too bad. I can't believe that Vegan MoFo is almost finished. It has been so much fun trying to post everyday. I hope I can keep it up as much as possible. I hope everyone out there reading has been enjoying and would love to hear topic suggestions if there are some out there. I tend to not plan these posts and write them as I go. Makes it more fun to me and keeps me cooking!

Tomorrow night I am getting treated with vegan chili. I will try and snap some cell pics of it and maybe even steal the recipe to share!

Hey Montreal - Where is all the vegan food?

This past week I have been working a conference in Montreal, PQ. One of Canada's largest cities and known for amazing food, I was pretty excited to see what vegan goodness I would find.

Unfortunately, I did not find a lot. Partially to blame is the fact that I was working, so I had no time to really explore the city. I didn't leave downtown at all during my stay. Found that a bit sad. One day, maybe this summer, I will go back and see if I can find out what vegan treats this city has to offer.

Since most of my time was spent at the Sheraton Centre, I will start there. Not vegan friendly at all. This is not to say that they did not make an honest effort to be vegan friendly, but unfortunately the chef was just not getting it. On the first day, we landed kind of late so I ended up eating at a Chinese buffet. It was decent, very much the norm for vegan cafe. I was lucky to find one that has a vegan soup with tofu and some rice and vegetables. I was just glad that we found a place to eat so close to the hotel since it was pouring rain!

The next day was the start of the event, so we were pretty much stuck in the hotel. My lunch was a green salad with fruit and I let the hotel staff know that I do also require protein and grains with my meals. Same needs as everyone else, just not animal product. Unfortunately this seemed to fall on deaf ears as my dinner was more of the same. Green salad, fruit and this time some marinated vegetables.

Now, that said, the marinated veggies were really good as was the salad. I am just not the type of person that can eat the same thing every day or live on salad. I'm just not. I enjoy food and eating out and I also enjoy showing others that it is possible to eat a normal diet that is also animal free.

The next day, I was frustrated and so the hotel cam out and asked me what I wanted. I told them that the veggies and fruit were fine, but I needed some protein; beans, lentils, tofu, anything! 30 minutes later I was ensured that my lunch had tofu (the chef went out and bought it that day). I opened it up and it was the exact same green salad only they had cut up the tofu and placed it on top.... raw. They also made a nice bean salad which was very good, but seriously... raw tofu?? ugh.

Fiddles, beer and veggie wrap. What more do you need??

Grouchy and tired, we had an evening off and our lovely helper onsite invited us to Hurley's on crescent. They had a veggie wrap on the menu and it was so, so good. Now, it could be that I was starving, but I am pretty sure this was a tasty veg sandwich. I was so tired, I forgot ask if it was vegan, so please do before purchasing. I think it is though. I didn't taste mayo or cheese in it, just yummy, yummy food with a big side of sweet potato fries!

Now, I have been hard on the Sheraton. The food for me just was not up to snuff. I know that some people just don't understand vegan cuisine, but I self-identified that I needed vegan meals a week before I got there, and I found they just didn't put any thought into it. The best meal I had was a dinner done through the catering department and it was a very well made dish of vegetables and couscous. Still lacking a bit in protein, but it really was delicious. I highly recommend it.

One thing that the hotel does well is smoothies. They are not on the menu, but this was my way to stay nourished onsite. I had the chef make green smoothies and fruit smoothies and both were amazing. Better than I can make at home.

One place I did get to try was a yummy 24 hr sandwich shop that offered vegan options on Drummond. It was really good, had some variety and was only a short walk from the hotel... oh yeah and it is 24 hours!! Nothing wrong with that. I wish I could remember the name, but I can't. It was downtown on drummond and honestly was a life saver.

OK, that is all I have on Montreal this time. Anyone out there from Montreal, I would love to hear what you think of the vegan scene. I am sure a big part of my disappointment was that I was stuck in one area and was on very limited time.

Anyways, next report will be from Atlanta... and I think I am about to be pleasantly surprised with some southern hospitality! Later!