To Live and Eat in L.A. – A Vegan Food Photo Blog

You’ve seen me enjoy this one before, but previously I had the grilled vegetable sandwich at HealthyCA in a lavash wrap. This time around I got it on their soft and yummy wheat bread. It’s a little bit tricker to eat this way because it’s so action packed, but it still tastes great. I also had a hard time photographing it, so you get to zoom in with me for a close-up.

The sandwich is stuffed with portobellos, mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes and lettuce. The creamy looking stuff is a vegan pesto. There’s also something with a bit of a spicy kick to it, not sure if it’s maybe a dijon mustard or perhaps even wasabi. Awesome.

Another perfect 10 from HealthyCA. This is their “Almost Raw” sandwich with grilled tofu, hummus, avocado, tomatoes, purple onions (declined), olive spread, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers and sprouts. I got it on their oh-so-fantastic seseame roll along with the baby mixed greens salad and roasted peppers dressing. Everything here tastes so fresh and so good.

I think I’ve officially made my way through all their vegan entrees, now I need to get to work on their salads. Stay tuned.

At Hugo’s restaurant you can get this massive vegetarian club sandwich with grilled tofu and fake bacon. There’s a yummy topping on there too, I think it’s a mix of guacamole and veganaise. Their seasoned french fries are to die for, not an indulgence I’ll often allow… yet displayed here shamelessly for one and all to see (and covet).

This is the vegan Bánh mì (veggie-sandwich) at Vinh Loi Tofu. The traditional Vietnamese version is usually made with chicken, egg or pork but the yummy rendition at Vinh Loi uses all vegan fake meat (I think this is their mock-ham) and the classic vegetable stuffings of carrot, daikon and lots of cilantro.

You might be able to spy the green chilis poking out near the edges there… those little buggers were so damn spicy, WOW! Too spicy hot for my delicate palate I tell ya (and I’m not very delicate at all). I had to pick them out after the first unwitting bite because it was just too much… my lips and tongue were burning long after I’d finished eating. Order it without the chili unless you are a hardcore heat lover (they will ask you when you order if you want ‘em or not). Don’t let my warnings scare you off from trying this though… it’s delicious.

I was eager to try the vegan sausage at HealthyCA, because well… it’s a freakin’ vegan sausage!

Here’s the menu description: “Homemade vegan sausage served on sesame roll with tomato, mustard, mayo, lettuce, grilled onion and fresh red pepper and pesto sauces”. I got mine without the mayo (not vegan) and without the onions (ewww). The sausage was delicious and had a very appetizing texture. You wouldn’t mistake it for real meat as it was bit mushier than a real sausage but the flavors were spot on. The sesame roll was nice too, perfectly toasted. The two sauces that came on the side were both very tasty, I liked the pesto best and spread that on the inside of the bread. You get to pick a side with the entree, my choice here is their quinoa salad.

Here’s a closer look so you can see what the actual sausage looked like.

This my first visit to HealthyCA restaurant, which serves fresh and homemade “unprocessed delicacies”. Indeed! I had a hard time picking from all the tantalizing menu items. I finally settled on the grilled veggies sandwich which I opted to have wrapped in flat bread (portobellos, mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, lettuce and vegan pesto). Served with a very tasty quinoa salad.

This was my first visit to “Native Foods” an organic vegetarian – vegan restaurant. The food here was amazing! This was at their location in Costa Mesa.

Seen here is the “Thai Sticks” sauteed and grilled tempeh satay with peanut sauce.

This was the tempeh Reuben sandwich. Perfectly seasoned, delicious saurkraut, yummy sauce, loads of veggies, served on an organic wheat and sprouted brown rice ciabatta roll with a very tasty slaw side salad. This was so good I almost ordered another one.

My friend ordered the “Iron Yam” salad. Steamed yam on salad greens dressed with balsamic vinaigrette, topped with steamed veggies, tofu & caramelized onions. He said it was fantastic. Who could resist a giant phallic tower of tofu for lunch?

This was their vegan carrot cake with “dream cheese” frosting, whatever that means. It was simply to die for. I’m willing to bet a non-vegan wouldn’t know the difference if they weren’t told… it was moist, fluffy, sweet and delicious, rivaling any regular recipe for carrot cake that I’ve ever had.