Vegan Soul Food. It got amazing reviews on Yelp. When I go, I’ll be sure to take pics and tell you all about it. My sister and I are planning a trip with some other veg friends of ours. I can’t wait! (And if you get there before me, I want to hear all about it).
Souley Vegan
431 13th St
(between Broadway & Franklin St)
Oakland, CA 94612
Monthly Archives: March 2008
A taste of raw vegan: My Breakfast Pudding
I can’t take credit for this one. I got the idea from my “Green” Domino Issue for a few raw vegan recipes that looked pretty good. Unlike many raw vegan recipes that I’ve seen, this one didn’t require many abnormal ingredients, so I tried it:
Pudding:
- 1 Banana
- 1/2 Avocado
- 3 Dates
- 3/4 Tbsp Raw Agave Nectar (to taste)
Blend in a food processor until pureed and a pudding-like consistency. Spread a little almond butter over a piece of bread (my bread was neither raw or vegan), top with pudding and fresh fruit.
It was so amazing. I had this for breakfast on Saturday. Today, I made just the pudding and had that as my breakfast (definitely raw vegan this time). I will definitely keep this recipe around.
Raw Vegan Recipes
I’m desperately wanting to try my hand at some raw vegan recipes. I’m not vegan and I’m definitely not ‘raw’ vegan, but after seeing these recipes and the gorgeous pictures that accompanied them, I now have “the bug”.
Ideally, I want to try to get a group of friends together to have a dinner party. I know my husband won’t be interested, so it will have to be a group of my more adventurous foodie girl friends for “Girls’ Night Raw Dinner Party” (but I need a much more interesting name than that for it, of course).
Since the dishes can sometimes be time consuming and/or pricy, ideally, I’d like everyone to find a recipe and bring one dish to make a complete meal without putting all the burden on one person (i.e, me) especially since none of my friends have had any experience with raw foods.
Now, I just need to plan it and find the girls who are willing to try. I’m open to suggestions, tried and true recipes, or anything else you may be interested in providing me.
Pinkberry comes to me
Forget going down to The OC (Orange County) for Pinkberry… It’s time that Pinkberry comes to me – in my own kitchen!
If you recall, I mentioned in my previous post that the original Pinkberry flavor tasted an awful lot like my sister’s frozen yogurt she made about a month ago. So, I decided it was time to break out the ol’ ice cream maker and try my hand at my own Pinkberry Rival. And I wasn’t disappointed. I think I discovered their secret ingredient in their secret recipe – Strained (or Greek) yogurt. It gives the frozen yogurt that smooth tangy flavor that is so recognizable as a “Pinkberry”.
The recipe is originally from “The Perfect Scoop” – an amazing ice cream recipe book by David Lebovitz that if you have a love for good homemade ice cream, you really should pick it up. When I called my sister up for the recipe, she quoted the recipe to me from memory and then I made it from memory. So, I don’t know if mine is 100% identical as book’s, but here goes…
Pinkberry Rival
- 6 cups of Greek yogurt (Such as Fage)
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
Mix the yogurt and sugar together and let sit in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to let the sugar dissolve. Freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions.
I used 3 17oz containers of Fage brand yogurt that I bought from Trader Joe’s. I used the full fat version to have more of a creamy ‘ice cream’ texture, but I’m sure the lower fat would work fairly well also. The only thing I noticed with the frozen yogurt is that it’s very thick and doesn’t ‘melt’ like ice cream or Pinkberry did. So, next time I make it, I’ll probably reduce the yogurt by about 1 cup and replace that with a cup of milk to thin it out. But it’s not necessary. The flavor is heavenly!
Oh, and to add to the “Pinkberry” experience, I even piped it through my cake decorator bag to get the soft serve look. The tip was small so it didn’t turn out very well, but it was good enough for me! Yumm….
And not only does this recipe rival Pinkberry, I actually think it this recipe makes a better frozen yogurt than Pinkberry!
