Vegan Restaurant Review: Pomegranate Cafe

My friend Miranda recently told me about Pomegranate Cafe in Ahwatukee. I didn't know that all their menu items are vegan---how cool is that? All the baked goods and menu items are vegan, but they do offer eggs (instead of tofu for breakfast/brunch items) and dairy cheese (instead of vegan Diaya cheese) to appeal to vegetarians. 

We went for a late afternoon lunch today and ordered pomegranate iced green tea, roasted red pepper hummus platter, and tempeh BLT sandwiches. The tea was tart and naturally sweet; very refreshing. The hummus was tasty and served with vegetables and warm bread slices. The BLT was simply awesome. I have to learn how to get my tempeh to taste like theirs! The baked goods looked way too good to pass up. So, against my waistlines wishes, we got 2 slices of vegan cake (lemon with strawberry frosting), raw vegan donut holes and coconut macaroons to take home. I wish I could have tried everything on the menu...I just have to make plans to visit often. The berry pepita french toast sounds absolutely divine...for next time.

Pomegranate Cafe

4025 E. Chandler Blvd., Suite 28, Phoenix, AZ 85048

Tues-Sun 8 am - 4:30 pm
Closed Mondays

Red pepper hummus platter

Vegan tempeh BLT sandwich....super yummy bread

You can't leave without some dessert to go!

Matt picked out some macaroons and some raw doughnut holes

Nourish Restaurant in Scottsdale (Highland and Scottsdale Rd)

While randomly searching the internet for 'Vegan restaurant Scottsdale', I stumbled upon Nourish. Nourish is a new restaurant that has only been open a couple weeks. What I love about their menu is that they denote vegan menu items.

Nourish Menu

10 of their 12 starters, sides and snacks are vegan (11 are vegetarian)
5 of their 7 soups and salads are vegan (6 are vegetarian)
All beverages are vegan
1 of their 6 sandwiches are vegan (3 are vegetarian)
All 3 Non-beef burgers are vegan
1 of their 7 entrees is vegan (4 are vegetarian)
They rotate their desserts, including vegan selections

Today we decided to get take-out to eat by the pool, since it is such a lovely day. We both ordered the sweet teriyaki burgers.

The burger is an amazing combination of chickpea, sweet potato and black beans with a slightly spicy seasoning. It is served with air-fried (without oil) crispy sweet potato waffle fries. The fries are seriously crave-worthy. They are seasoned with cinnamon, which I thought was a surprisingly good flavor combo. The burger is normally served on a bed of greens, but we got ours on multi-grain buns (lucky for us). I can't imagine this burger without the bun; the bun was the perfect compliment to the burger. We got the teriyaki sauce on the side, along with a garlic dressing that I didn't see mentioned on the menu and they were both awesome. The burger came with cucumber, tomato, onion and lettuce.

I haven't drank soda in 90 days. We decided to try the Ogave sodas and they were awesome. I had the cola and Matt had the mandarin key lime.

We asked about vegan desserts and sprung for some vegan chocolate chai ice cream. OMFG. I didn't want to stop eating it to even take a photo. The ice cream, which is made with coconut milk, was probably the most amazing flavor of ice cream I have ever tried. The take-home container had 4 baby scoops...I could have eaten like 2000 scoops of it. It was so good that I want to go buy an ice cream maker just to try to recreate the flavor at home.

This new restaurant will be seeing a lot of me....I already want to go back for 2nds. ;)

True Food Kitchen

Matt, Christie, Rachelle and our grandma met for lunch this past week at True Food Kitchen. I love True Food Kitchen because the food is so wholesome and tasty. Also, they clearly mark if items on their menu are vegan. Matt got the organic tomato and olive oil pizza and quinoa tabbouleh salad with local arugula, beats, pomegranate, lemon and extra virgin olive oil. I ordered the Terryaki tofu with brown rice, asian vegetables, sesame and avocado. I tried a bit of Matt's salad and it was divine. I should have tried his pizza, but I was trying to be good. In the spirit of being good, I didn't partake in any dessert. Matt got some vegan strawberry sorbet and Christie got an apple crisp. Their house iced green tea is from Passport Teas and it is so tasty that I typically don't leave there without a to-go cup (which is made of corn and completely compostable). Good times!

Busy week=Green Vegetarian take-out

We didn't have the luxury of free time this week to prepare new vegan recipes, due to hectic schedules and lack of preparation. We did eat Green Vegetarian 2 times this week (pure vegan bliss).

www.greenvegetarian.com

I am on a quest for a vegan pizza recipe that tastes so much like the real thing, you would never guess it was vegan. All I need is Green's recipe for their Greenza pizza. The super thin crust: yum. The teese cheese: super yum. The pesto: heaven. The tomatoes: tasty. Green carries the teese cheese, so we bought some to try out on our next homemade pizza adventure. I just need to find a good flatbread/super thin crust vegan recipe and I think I will be in vegan heaven.

Matt got the Orecciette Pasta with no-harm chicken parm. I tried some of the no harm chicken parm and it tasted just like the real thing! I don't know how it is done, but WOW! (He ate it so quick, I didn't even get a picture of it!)

The green hummus is very flavorful and the pita chips are a naughty companion.

Green....I think I love you.