Every time I travel, I'm so worried I am going to have to eat horribly. Normally things like Sweet and Chili Doritos and bean burritos or something. They're cheap, in every town and vegan. But this time, I was set with tons of options! St. Louis not only had diners and cafes that catered to vegans, but it was full of ethnic food. As most people probably know, most ethnic cuisines are vegan. This is typically my trick to finding a delicious meal that won't break my nutritional lifestyle.
Normally I avoid Mexican and Italian food, because they typically are covered in cheese and dairy. However, I was really craving some Mexican food and so was my friend. So, I found a veggie-friendly Mexican restaurant in the Eastside. I got a bean burrito (yes, no lard in the beans) with all of the fixings. This burrito was like twice as big as Chipotle's. Not only did they have the best burrito, they had the most orgasmic chips and salsa of my life. I've never had anything as good as that. Overall, it was one of my favorite veg-friendly Mexican restaurants---not only for the food, but also for all the gay men! ;)The next day, I had to wake up early in order to make it to my graduate school tour. We did not really have time to go and get breakfast, but I had to eat because if I don't, then I feel like I will vomit. We decided to go down and check out the free continental breakfast. You can probably assume what that means...not a large selection. I ended up having an untoasted english muffin with an apple, banana, and orange juice. It was satisfying, but not my first choice.
Later on, Washington University School of Medicine bought my lunch at the St. Louis Bread Co. (aka Panera). I did have many more options. I had a normal salad with their veggie soup and a fruit cup. It was extremely satisfying after a small breakfast.
By the time dinner rolled around, not only was I starving, but I was jonesing for something that was ethnic and filling. We went out in the rain (because our shuttle was busy) and went for some Indian. We ordered some veggie samosas and I got the baingan bharta. It was so good. Probably the best Indian food ever. For some reason, even their condiments for the samosas tasted better than other restaurants I've eaten at.
The next morning I was ready for a real breakfast. We went to Southside and found this cute little bakery that caters to vegans. It was really hippy and my kind of scene. I had some vegan buckwheat pancakes covered with a peach puree and maple syrup with breakfast potatoes and a black bean dish. Since it was an all-you-care-to-eat brunch, I got really full.
Afterwards we went exploring of St. Louis and stumbled into a bookstore in University City. This is where I fell in love with several vegan cookbooks but narrowed it down to two. One is about veggie burgers and the other is a gluten-free, vegan baking cookbook. My friend got some feministy books and then we headed to a vegan smoothie shop/cafe to read our books and drink some smoothies.
After smoothies and books, we went to a large farmers' market in the Eastside. This is where I died and came back to life. We walked in and went at it. I bought the most beautiful eggplants--no blemishes, firm, just beautiful--for only two dollars!!! And two pints of blueberries for a dollar! My mind was blown. But here is really where I lost it. They have a spice shop. I walked in and was completely overwhelmed by the amount of spices!! I just did not know what to say. She asked me what I wanted and I didn't know. She handed me a list of probably 100 spices and I stared blankly at the list, not comprehending a word on it. I ended up walking out with fenugreek, Moroccan spice mix, a vegetarian grilling mix, and ancho chili powder for 8 dollars!!! To humor me, I asked her to show me their cardamom. It was $1.20 for the same amount my friend bought me for $8.99. I wanted to live in that shop!! It gave me so much inspiration that I walked out of that store speechless. I couldn't talk. I know it sounds so lame, but as the crazy foodie, health-nut, I just was overwhelmed and had a geek-out moment. It literally changed my life.I have always wanted to check out a Trader Joe's. So, as we were leaving St. Louis, we stopped by one. I was disappointed the moment I walked in. I walked through for maybe two minutes and left. It was so depressing. There was a huge Whole Foods across the street. We decided to go there and just explore as well as get dinner from their hot bar. It was decidedly the healthiest meal of the entire trip and the cheapest. I had vegan fajitas with broccoli and a kemut, barely, quinoa salad.
Overall, the entire trip was extremely vegan friendly and I never even made it to an Ethiopian or Mediterranean, and not even to the vegan-friendly bakery. So, I know there is much more to explore when I return. And I will.
So, tonight I made a gluten-free, vegan blueberry muffin inspired by the cookbook I bought as well as the beautiful blueberries. I used brown rice flour and garbanzo bean flour. I sweetened them with maple syrup and brown rice syrup. Basically, this muffin is as healthy as it gets. Gluten-free, vegan and no refined sugars. And I just tried them, and they are delicious! They are light and airy, not dense like normal. They are just appropriately sweet. And they don't taste like they are gluten-free either. They are kind of nutty. It's really good.I hope you guys enjoyed this very long blog about food in Saint Louis. Hopefully the picture at the end was a great end to the entire thing.
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