Cheap Vegan Eats, Hollywood

It feels great to be back in So Cal! Yesterday, we rented bikes and cruised Venice Beach.

I wanted to check out the new vegan restaurant, Seed, but my family expired before I could find it. Next time. Anybody eaten there? But I have nothing to complain about, the food so far has been delicious and priced just right! Here's an unofficial guide to eating cheap in and around Hollywood!



I have been known to rave once or twice about the soul food served up at the Hollywood Farmer's Market Sunday mornings at Selma & Vine by A Taste of Life. As usual, Art and I shared the soul food dinner combo with kale, black-eyed peas, vegan pot roast and macaroni and cheeze. comes with cornbread. $12 -- For the price, you can't do better than this if you don't mind sitting on the sidewalk.



This is a new favorite routine of mine:

Go to How's Market, NoHo. Order tofu skewers from the service deli. Check the deli case, and if you're lucky, there will be inari sushi (basically rice inside tofu pouches). Go to the coffee counter and score yourself a Peet's Coffee. Settle at a table in front of the TV and enjoy the newspaper left behind. -- less than $10



I've been dying to try Vicious Dogs since Art discovered it and wrote his guest post.

The owner's name is Willy, and he boasts 4 varieties of vegan dogs. He magically transforms Yves hot dogs into something that looks like this (minus the giant bite). Mine had grilled onions & peppers, sweet & sour sauce, and chopped tomatoes for only $3.99



Abi enjoyed hers plain with ketchup. We sat out front watching the cranes across the street build a new theatre.

All is good here in California! We're looking forward to more adventures including Thanksgiving with family. Hope yours is full of happiness.

XO

Vicious Dogs (Art's Guest Post)

I have the opportunity to guest blog here for Vicki, I've been on the hunt for new vegan grub in the LA area. I have tried various veggie dogs in town, including Pink's on La Brea (they have a "Pat Morrison Vegan Dog"), and also Orean's in Pasadena (they have a good BBQ tofu dog), but NOBODY beats the vegan dog at this place I found. It's called Vicious Dogs, located in the NoHo Arts District on Lankershim Boulevard. They have several vegetarian or vegan style dogs, take your pick. I grilled the owner (pardon the bun) on whether the dogs were actually vegan.

Sure enough, they are! Yves, and he was kind enough to pull them out and prove it! He tosses them on a special section of the grill, and you can order them any way you want. I've tried several varieties, but the best one, and what seems to be most popular there with vegans, is the "Sweet and Spicy" vegan dog. Damn, it's so good I have to cuss about it! I usually order two of them, they are $4.00 each, it's got grilled onions, grilled peppers, sweet and spicy sauce, and a delicious soft bun with the jumbo Yves dog in there.

The onions and peppers are grilled in a pan with olive oil. I caught this photo just as he had tossed the stuff on the grill. You could smell it already. They report that the vegan dogs are one of the most popular (there is a large arts community in the area and we know that artsy people are often vegans). Well, you can have it anyway you want, so I'm thinking about coming up with my own variety and asking him to name it after me. He has an "Original Willy Style" which has a special chipolte sauce and other stuff, but I'd say my favorite is the sweet and spicy and that's going to be hard to beat.

Look at that puppy! It was so good, after taking the photos, I wolfed it down and then got another one to go! You can call in your orders and each dog is made specially and ready to eat when you get there. Or, do like me, and order the dog there and talk smack with the owner, which is more fun, and probably why it's called Vicious Dogs. The difference here is that the vegan dog is cooked perfectly on the grill, as opposed to boiled or microwaved. We've tried the Foreman grill at home and it's okay, but nothing like this. So let me know what you'd put on a special vegan dog and maybe I'll get one named after me?

Hot Dog Top Dog

My family prefers Yves Hot Dogs, hands-down. We've tried other veggie dogs, and think these are by far the best. Abi digs the taste, Art likes how they grill, and I like that they are nutritious, vegan, and can be found at WinCo (our regular grocery store).



Even our dog agrees that these hot dogs are top dog.....



A Hot Dog slipped out of the package and on to the floor.

My daughter screamed "Oh no!" as our dog Jolie quickly claimed the spoils and trotted it back to her spot to enjoy...

Coming in for this photo, Jolie gave me a warning growl to say she wasn't going to give it back.



I came back to find Abi double-fisted with hot dog. She gave me a warning growl to say she was keeping both of them.


That's a lot of hot dog hoarding! So I thought it'd be fun to capitalize on the Hot Dog enthusiasm.





Vegan Lunch Box has a great recipe for 'Pups in Blankets'. After dressing them up, we liked calling them 'Mummy Dogs'.

It was a snap to also make the 'Piroshki' because I happened to have left-over mashed potatoes in the fridge.

Here they are oven ready. We gobbled them up without a photo they were so irrestible. What's stopping schools from serving these in their lunches?!