Miami Juice - Deceptive Veggie Burgers... But Good Vegan Chocolate

Let me start off by saying what this post was supposed to be about. It was supposed to be a raving review of Miami Juice's amazing veggie burger and the incredible soy cheese they use that melts, oozes and stretches shockingly like the real thing. I was going to gush and praise this awesome vegan cheese and wonder aloud why other vegans haven't discovered this incredible product yet, because it was sooooo good and way, way better than Daiya. I was prepared to heap endless praise on Miami Juice for having one of the best veggie burgers anywhere based on this amazing vegan cheese alone.





 But alas, it was not to be. Because after gorging on this wonder burger I did some research on the soy cheese in question and discovered it's actually not a vegan cheese at all. It's called Soy-Kaas (you've probably seen it in the cheese/ dairy case at Whole Foods and other health stores) and it deceptively resembles a dairy-free cheese substitute. But nah, it's just another cheese product altered to remove lactose, leaving the vital dairy components - most prominently casein - intact.
                           
Upon learning this I felt an acute sadness, having been duped into believing there was a vegan cheese was out there that perfectly replicated the melty, oozy qualities of the actual stuff. And I was also kind of miffed that Miami Juice didn't explicitly state on the menu their soy cheese wasn't vegan -  it's kind of important information, since most of the people who would opt for soy cheese are probably vegan.

                                     

Besides the cheese debacle, I really can't recommend much else about their veggie burger. The patty was rather thin, made of various bits and chunks of vegetables like peas and carrots, and was strongly flavored with a particular, earthy seasoning that made it reminiscent of Thanksgiving stuffing. It was edible, but at over $10 after tax, not really a burger I would recommend.

What I do recommend is a short trip to their small but near-comprehensive mini-market, which is a like a natural foods supermarket compressed into 80 square feet. They carry a fresh produce case, frozen/refrigerated items and three aisles of natural food products, including a whole aisle of protein/ granola/ chocolate bars. I was happily surprised to find this treat: an Organic Nectar Milk Chocolate Bar  made from cashew milk. As any vegan knows, vegan milk chocolate is a tough commodity to find, especially one that tastes good.  These particular bars, made from creamy, fatty nut milk promise to replicate a real dairy chocolate bar. The catch? 5 bucks for a 1.4 oz bar. That's kinda hefty, but worth it if you want to a experience some vegan chocolate bliss.

Miami Juice also boasts an extensive veg-friendly menu of sandwiches, salads, pizza and smoothies, and I especially heart the #57 Smoothie  wth dates, cashews and soymilk. So if you're in the mood to get your natural eatin' on or splurge on some serious vegan chocolate, Miami Juice has all the goods. Just skip the veggie burger and don't let the soy cheese fool you. 

 

Whatever Happened to Mushaboom?

This month marks one year since the sudden disappearance of Miami's lone vegan food truck - Mushaboom. 

This particular food truck really bothers me, because I was almost never able to catch up with them as they drove around and made far-flung stops around South Florida. When I finally did,  they closed down at the event early and shut the ordering window in my face. This was after I had parked half a mile away and trudged under a grueling sun to reach them outside an environment fair. They literally took the person in front of me, and when I got to the ordering window announced they were closed (mind you, a full 10 minutes before they were scheduled to close) and just slid the window shut. Shortly after that, they stopped posting scheduled events on their online calendar, and not too long after that, apparently closed down for good.

Too bad, because their food looked delicious and I really wanted to try it.
They made scrumptious-looking burgers out of everything from black beans and chickpeas to falafel and mushrooms. And all who tried it posted rave reviews. I so badly wanted some Mushaboom, but they were either never in my part of town, or they only came around during very inconvenient hours, usually when I was at work. The day I finally caught up with them at the environment fair was a day 2 long months in the making, I cannot describe the shock and disappointment I felt when they closed down on me, after I had waited so long to try their food.

                       

                  

         

But what really sucks is that this humble little truck serving genuinely delicious vegan fare had to go out of business, when Miami is so starved for vegan eateries. Well, I guess it was nice for while it lasted and for the lucky ones who enjoyed it. RIP Mushaboom. I only hope a new vegan burger truck comes around soon to take your place.

Images courtesy of  roaminghunger, miamifoodtrucks and bisousbrittany

Best Vegan Pizza in Miami (Part 1 ) - Alaska Coffee Roasters

Looking for delicious vegan pizza in Miami? Like REAL pizza, not some sad cheese-less option you special ordered from Pizza Hut or Papa John's or Dominoes, using 5 toppings to try and cover up the lack of cheese on a naked crust?

Well take heart pizza missers, because there is actually some excellent vegan pizza in Miami. As is usually the case, it's found in a somewhat obscure and unsuspecting place that doesn't even advertise it sells vegan pizza.
Alaska Coffee Roasters in North Miami is a humble coffee establishment that puts out some seriously good food. From a lush dessert case filled with humongous cake slices, brownies, cookies and cannolis to gourmet soups, sandwiches and exquisite roasted coffee. But the star food item here (and what almost everyone in the lunch crowd comes for) is the pizza - made from hand-stretched dough and fresh toppings and baked in a huge wood-fired oven.  The oven bakes the doughy crust, sauce and veggies into something crisp and intensely flavorful, while Daiya cheese is transformed from plain, half-inferior imitation cheese to something that really resembles melty, tangy mozzarella. It's almost like magic!

The pizzas go for $8.50 and $10 for 10 and 12-inch pizzas plus an extra $2 for the Daiya. I highly recommend  the Aegean - with spinach, olives, red onions and diced sweet peppers - and the classic Marguerita topped with cheese, basil and tomatoes. Their rich, garlic-suffused marinara sauce is also divine and worth ordering an extra side of.

Forget vegan - this is some of the best pizza you will find in Miami, period. For a wild slice of pizza heaven, make the trek through Miami's wilderness to Alaska Coffee - their pizza will transport you.

Alaska Coffee Roasters
13130 Biscayne Blvd, North Miami, FL 33181
(786) 332-4254

Miami's Vegan Blessing - Choices Cafe

If you live in Miami and have done some vegan dining out lately, then you are likely no stranger to Choices Cafe. You know all about the huge, scrumptious wraps, the famous "La Pixsa", the heavenly organic smoothies and the cold-pressed juices and raw desserts.

Choices is a no-B.S. establishment for all those who want their food fresh, whole, and real. No preservative-laden, additive-added, artificially-colored, pesticide-covered junk will be found here, nor any meat or animal products - they are over 90% organic and committed to 100% plant-based everything. Their extensive menu overflows with a ridiculous number of - what else? - choices and covers every palate preference from meaty sandwiches and wraps (Insane Mexican, Chicken Homie) to fresh-from-the-earth, leafy-greeney feasts (The Everything Salad, California Wrap) to delicious novelty items (Mental Lentil, La Pixsa) that will send you straight into plant-induced nirvana.

They now have 3 locations to choose from, starting with the original, a little-too crammed space in Brickell in "The Roads" across from the quiescent Triangle Park, the much airier and open free-standing restaurant on 79th Street just east of Biscayne Boulevard, and the newest, slightly-different outpost called Choices Kitchen. This last one is something of a Choices Cafe Lite which serves prix-fixe lunch and dinner plates and hosts a small market and salad bar.

Miami is quite blessed that Choices and founder and owner Alex Cuevas planted roots here. We so desperately needed a friendly, inviting all-vegan cafe, especially one whose food stands on par with the non-vegan places out there (And there are too many!) Thank goodness Choices is here to fill that plant-based, organic hole in our hearts.

www.mychoicescafe.com

Choices Cafe - Brickell
397 SW 15th Road
Brickell, FL 33129

Choices Cafe - Upper East Side
646 NE 79th Street
Miami, FL 33138

Choices Kitchen (New)
711 NW 27th Ave.
Miami, FL 33125

Images courtesy of mychoicescafe.com, candied-life.com, and foodspotter.com

Friday Night Special - Wildwood Southwest Veggie Burgers

Starting Friday nights I'll be featuring a scrumptious, picky-vegan worthy food product that I love and have made a must-have staple. As a straightforward, not-that-into-cooking vegan who just wants to find good food, fast with no fancy prep or work involved, I've scoured countless market shelves and freezers for the best edible vegan products, and it is my pleasure to share these tried and true treasures with you.

To kick off this new series, I am pleased to introduce to you to the Wildwood Southwest Veggie Burger.  Wildwood makes at least 3 varieties of veggie burgers, of which I've tried the Original and Southwest, and I can confidently say I only recommend the Southwest burger. Why? Because the Original, in plain terms, was tasteless, under-seasoned,  lacked a definite flavor personality, and was just not that good. The Southwest burger, on the other hand, is packed with bold flavoring and spices and will have you licking your eager fingers.

They come 2 in a pack for $3.79 at my Whole Foods are super simple to cook up. They're refrigerated which means you can simply throw 'em in a pan or heat one up in the microwave in under 1 minute. No complicated defrosting inside folded napkins or turning over on the stove. Nope! These are the simplest and simply one of the most delicious veggie burgers you'll have the pleasure to bring home from your local Whole Foods. Haven't tried them yet? Get out and buy one of these things! If you like a little flavor with your veggie burger,  you'll thank me.

Wildwood Southwest Veggie Burger

Miami's Secret Vegan Supermarket

Tucked quietly near a round-about shopping center in Miami Springs, west of the airport lies a veritable Secret Garden for plant-eaters. The Adventist Book and Nutrition Center is an entirely vegetarian bookstore proffering both religious items and a treasure trove of meatless wonders.

Walking in, the plain sign and storefront bid a quiet, unassuming welcome and the front area of the store - with the books and gifts section to the right and market on the left - seems plains and unremarkable. Until, that is, you step into one particular aisle stacked high with canned items and other non-perishables. One look at the labels and you suddenly realize you are immersed in a magical world of meatless meats!

There's familiar-sounding foods like sausages, hot dog franks and taco filling. Then things start to get weird, fast. Fried chicken? Dinner steak? Nut loaf? Packed in water? In a can?
                             

                                

                                 

 In fact,  many of the meat substitutes of this store will likely have you wondering many things you never thought you'd ask like: What is a terkette?
                                     

Terkettes: a true mystery meat. 

Major moments of confusion not withstanding, this meatless meat aisle is like a goldmine to a veggie carnivore like me, who craves and seeks out vegan replicas of meat-based dishes I used to love, especially beef and chicken. Unfortunately, many of the products use dairy or eggs in their ingredients (dammit!) and are thus off-limits to us vegan-ites, but there are also plenty that are free of animal stuff.

The next happy surprise can be found just on the other side of the aisle: a wall-length freezer of more meats + veggie frozen meals.
They sell the near-impossible to find Tofutti cheese slices, industrial-sized tubs of Vegenaise, (though I'm a Just Mayo devotee now) a brand of vegan ice cream I'd never heard of called Wayfare and holy crap! Nestled on the next-to-the-bottom shelf of the freezer are the famous May-Wah chicken drumsticks, adorable dowel "bones" and all. If you are not familiar with May-Wah, it's an Asian grocery that specializes in selling all-vegetarian meats. They make everything from authentic-tasting beef, pork and chicken to fish, shrimp and lamb and mutton. Yes, mutton. You can check out there amazing products here

Unfortunately, a single bag of drumsticks costs $55, which was definitely over my shopping budget. And much to my dismay I discovered this particular May-Wah product is made with milk. Boooo!

But there's so much to look over in this lovely veggie freezer that I quickly forgot about soy drumsticks and turned my attention to the incredible selection of snacks and frozen meals, many of them vegan!

So many lovely green boxes! (Along with my reflection)

 At the front of the store, beneath the cash register is the real vegan loot - five glorious boxes of Go Max Go's candy bars including the Buccaneer, Twilight, and the delicious Mahalo Bar. If you've never tried these candies are badly craving some vegan chocolate, then run to this store and pick one up, now! The Mahalo Bar is by far the best and perfectly replicates the creamy coconut-y yumminess of a real Almond Joy, without a smidgen of dairy. Best of all,  they all retail for under $2.  If only other quality vegan products were this cheap and affordable, it would make this plant-based living thing so much easier.
             
                                                                                 

The Mahalo Bar - my favorite!

The rest of this charming store is stocked with religious books, cards, figurines and a wide array of shiny gifts and curios. There's also a ton (read: like, hundreds) of vegetarian cookbooks, along with a full selection of natural herbs, beverages and teas.

So if you want to try out some interesting meatless meats, indulge in luxurious vegan chocolate bars, or just stand still to take in the sight of an all-vegetarian market, then a trek past the smog and noise of airport traffic to the Adventist Book and Nutrition Center is well worth your while. Just please leave me some Mahalo Bars.

Mad About Maoz!

A big sign hanging  in Maoz Vegetarian on Washington Avenue and Lincoln Road warns customers: "Careful - Our falafel can be addictive!"
After my fiftieth visit, I am starting to agree with them. (Actually it's been more like 5, but whose counting?)
 I am definitely not a falafel expert - I only had it once before at Pasha's in Aventura mall years ago and at a Middle Eastern restaurant further south on the beach, and both of those experiences were definitely meh - but Maoz has those amazing green beefy balls darn near perfect!  If there is a better tasting falafel out there, please someone tell me what it is so we can have a Falafel Off. (That should be a kid's TV show character)

Being that I'm kind of inexperienced in the falafel world, I did not realize that falafel meals typically come with a rainbow assortment of delicious vegetables and sauces to stuff into your pita. When I saw them I thought those were expensive side dishes you had to pay extra for. Not so! I discovered this mountainous veggie buffet of coleslaw, onions, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, pickles, carrots, olives and more amazing toppings are part of the falafel indulgence experience, and they are free for the taking!

Naturally, I spent a good 10 minutes filling up those trusty plastic sauce cups with generous helpings of each tasty topping. My absolute favorites from Maoz are the tomato medley salad (diced tomato chunks, cool cucumbers and chickpeas) and the spicy onions which come slathered in a toothsome tomato paste.  All the veggies are super-fresh and pleasingly chilled and - I still can't believe it - they are all you can eat!

 To the Sauces: I have heard about tahini and know it is a Middle Eastern paste made from sesame seeds. But I just don't like it. Every time I go to Maoz I try to sample some, hoping the taste will grow on me. But after my umpteenth try I have decided I just don't like their tahini sauce - it tastes too much like wet, smoky chalk. Sorry if I offend any tahini lovers out there. But Maoz also offers great fresh ketchup and a very yummy garlic yogurt sauce which unfortunately is milk-based but if you're in the mood to cheat it's dee-lish.

Now for the best part: DEM FRIES! Maoz has some of best french fries out there - thick, perfectly crispy, perfectly salty, highly flavored and well seasoned. I am putting these fries up there with McDonald's for pure addictiveness. And you can choose from regular ones or sweet potato - or get them both mixed for an extra 50 cents. On this visit I went old school with the regular ones (These did not last long after the little photo shoot)

The conclusion: Maoz has phenomenal falafel! And it's even better enjoyed if you take your meal (which they will generously wrap up and bag for you) across Washington Ave to the beautiful New World Symphony park, where SoBe denizens and tourists lounge on the numerous benches and quiet grassy spots to soak up the nourishing sunshine.When I visited last Friday, the atmosphere was peaceful and the air crisp and pleasantly cool. It's a perfect place to dine al fresco while indulging in Miami's best fried green garbanzo balls.

And those bougainvilleas! There's nothing better than noshing on a pita while gazing up at bright pink flower vines wrapped in worm hole wire ice cream cones.
I love it!

Maoz Vegetarian is located at 1657 Washington Avenue in Miami Beach.
Open Sunday - Thursday from 10:00 am - 11 pm. Closed Friday and Saturday.
www.maozusa.com/restaurants/locations/miamibeach