Restaurant Review: The Last Carrot Miami, FL

Two weeks in Miami sounds like the ultimate vacation to some but for me it was nothing but endless meetings, a bad hotel exercise room and an endless stack of take out menu’s to pick out my dinner from. Inevitably that means a choice between pizza or Chinese. After alternating between the two for days I finally had to branch out. Thankfully a kind spirit took pity on my poor soul’s yearning for fresh vegetables and “real” vegan food and shuttled me down to The Last Carrot (3133 Grand Ave, Coconut Grove Miami, FL).

The Last Carrot isn’t much to look at, but from the second I walked in the door I knew that I had made it to a little slice of vegan heaven. Instead of trying to decide between Chinese take out classics like Buddha’s Delight and Bean Curd & Eggplant or pizza (no cheese) plus a meager list of toppings from the local pizzeria, I had a full menu to choose from including vegan desserts! It had only been a week since I dined at an ultra vegan-friendly restaurant but it seemed like an eternity and I took my time looking over the menu. Would I try the Spicy Tofu Pita Sandwich? Maybe the Hummus Pita? Homemade Veggieburgers are always a safe choice. Or did I want to go for one of their ginormous (yes that’s a word, because I say so!) salads. Maybe some hearty soup and a salad. Then there was the prospect of having a smoothie made from real fruit, not concentrated fruit juice or syrups. As I tried to make my decision I looked down to see a huge vegan cake beckoning me to come closer and a full case of vegan cookies and brownies. What’s a little Vegan Guinea Pig to do with such choices put in front of her?

Well after mulling over the menu for at least 10 minutes I finally decided on the Spicy Tofu Pita which turned out to be one of their ginormous salads complete with bean sprouts, tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbal dressing (which was also a bit spicy) topped with two generous portions of baked spicy tofu. It was one of those sandwiches that begins to fall apart as soon as you eat it, so there is no attractive way of going about devouring it. I just went for it full force. Salad dressing on my cheeks, I think some of it even got on my nose. Lettuce and sprouts falling onto my plate. I didn’t care. It was all just too good to care who was watching or what they were thinking. I would have never imagined that I could ever be this excited to eat fresh vegetables! After the sandwich I was already 99% full. I knew there was no way a smoothie was going to fit in my stomach so I gave in to temptation and decided to go for the vegan cake that had been whispering sweet nothings in my ear since I walked in the door. It was a chocolate, coconut, ganache-ish cake. Mind you, the name of the cake didn’t sound as great as the looks of the cake but I thought I’d give it a try anyway. Boy am I glad I did! All the flavors blended together seamlessly and I found myself scraping the crumbs of it off my plate.

The bottom line is, next time your in Miami get yourself down to The Last Carrot. Your belly will thank you.

Yummy Yummy For My Tummy - Amazing Grass/Amazing Meal

As a vegan, it can be a bit of a pain in the butt to travel especially when you have no car, are living out of a hotel room and only have a short stack of take out menus to choose from. Because I tend to find myself in situations like this more often than not, I've grown accustomed to bringing my own food, no matter how long or short the trip. Anything that can be popped in the microwave, only requires hot water to cook or can be easily mixed in with soy milk (which I also bring) or juice fits the bill.

Lately I've been bringing cups of cereal and soy milk for breakfast or the occasional packets of maple and brown sugar oatmeal. But on my most recent trip I just couldn't bring myself to have one more bowl of cereal or oatmeal. In walks Amazing Grass' Amazing Meal. Its nothing more than a little orange packet but its chocked full of greens, protein, fruits and vegetables. Not only that but it is organic, raw, gluten free, soy free and, of course, vegan.

Each packet is 110 calories, packs 10 grams of protein (from rice and hemp), 6 grams of fiber, and is a natural source of a variety of vitamins and minerals. Its hard t believe so much green happy goodness is packed into a little 29 gram packet but its true. For the greens, they blend wheat grass, kale, barley grass and alfalfa. For protein they use rice and hemp. For the fruit and vegetable blend they use acai, carrot, blueberry, goji berry, rose hips, maca and banana as well as flax seed powder. It also contains negligent amounts of digestive enzymes and probiotics.

Amazing Meals comes in chocolate, original and pomegranate mango. It seems like every powder, shake or supplement comes in chocolate so I'm kind of getting sick of it and I didn't want to take a chance on what the "original" flavor was since the list of ingredients didn't seem like it would blend seamless into something my taste buds would enjoy. The appearance of the pomegranate mango flavor intrigued me, and I knew it would take a lot of hard work to make that combination of fruits taste bad together. I enjoyed mine 3 different ways: once stirred into some orange juice, once shaken up with vanilla soy milk or hemp milk as a quick smoothie and once blended into a mango, pineapple, peach smoothie for a little extra nutrient boost. All 3 ways were absolutely divine! I did a little truffle shuffle as I drank it.

Mind you this stuff is a little pricey. With tags like "raw, organic and gluten free" its not surprising that it is. A 10 pack cost me $29.99. And singles are around $2.99 each. In the long run its cheaper and better for you than a lot of the other things available for the morning warrior or the travel mavens like me. It sure beats a bagel and banana and is much more filling. And, when you look at the total cost, is comparably priced to my travel standby of soy milk and cereal cups or oatmeal packets. All in all I'd say if you have a little extra money to spend or if you're on the road and not exactly sure where your next complete meal will be coming from or if its coming at all, I would go for this Amazing Meal. Hands down.

Where to find: Whole Foods has exclusive distribution.

Spring Cleaning: Guinea Pig Updates Part 2

Spring cleaning is well under way in the land of Vegan Guinea Pig. The post for Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe and Sweetgrass Salon & Spa are now all spruced up and shiny like a new penny. Now my all time favorite vegan cheese is ready for it's unveiling! Along with an updated review, and a bit of a change of heart, on my one time favorite non dairy yogurt.

Check out the newest updates: The Verdict on Cheezly and The Ricera Retraction (my new review of Ricera yogurt)

Spring Cleaning: Guinea Pig Updates

I’ve spent the last two weeks decluttering my house, washing baseboards, dusting ceilings fans and doing some good old fashioned spring cleaning while I’m on summer break from classes. My house barely looks the same and I think even the dogs are impressed with their new, less cluttered, cleaner digs. All this cleaning got me thinking that I might need to do a little spring cleaning around ye ole Vegan Guinea Pig Blog. A lot of things have changed since I made my first post a year and a half ago, some items have been discontinued, businesses have moved and I’ve even tried some products for the third or fourth time and had a change of heart on my original review.

It took me 2 weeks to get my house clean from top to bottom so I’m giving myself about a week to get this blog whipped up into tip top shape as well.

First up, check out the updates over at Cosmo’s Vegan Shoppe and Sweetgrass Salon & Spa.

Vegan Brunch: Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes

Ok, I admit it. I bought Veganomicon the day it came out and still haven’t tried one recipe in it yet. I bought it with the best intentions to try at least 3 or 4 recipes but it never happened, as is the case with most of the cookbooks that sit on my shelf now-a-days. I’ve been so wrapped up in working on my own books that I haven’t had much time to branch out and see what else is going on the world of vegan eats. When Isa posted the recipe for Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes from her new book Vegan Brunch I promised myself that I would leave my own little vegan culinary cocoon and branch out to try Isa’s latest venture.

True to form, I didn’t make the recipe exactly to the letter but it’s the closest I’ve ever been to the original recipe in a long time. My only change was to take down the panko bread crumbs by ½ cup and I double the roumelade because I like to have a good amount of sauce. I might take down the mustard or use Dijon mustard next time in the roumelade and I'm considering baking the cakes to next time as well, but otherwise I thought it was a perfect recipe.


Make ahead: Make the entire mixture and the remoulade the night before. In the morning, form into cakes and pan fry.

For the cakes:
8 ounces tempeh (I used three grain)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon soy sauce (I used Bragg's liquid aminos)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons Vegenaisse
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard (stone ground Dijon works, too)
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 cup very finely chopped red bell pepper
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh black pepper
1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs, plus extra for dredging (I used 1 cup)
Optional: 1 finely chopped nori sheet or 1 tablespoon kelp granules (if you like a little fishiness)
Oil for pan frying

For the remoulade:
2 tablespoons Vegenaise
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard (stone ground dijon works, too)
1 tablespoon hot sauce
2 teaspoons capers (try not to get too much brine)

Lemon wedges for serving

First we’re going to steam the tempeh to get the bitterness out and also to infuse some flavor with the soy sauce. Crumble the tempeh into a saucier or small pan in little bits. Add the water, soy sauce, oil and bay leaf. The tempeh won’t be fully submerged, but that’s fine. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, let boil for 12 to 15 minutes, until most of the water has evaporated. Stir once during boiling.

Transfer contents to a mixing bowl, remove bay leaf, and mash with a fork. Let cool for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to hasten the cooling process. Make sure the tempeh is barely warm before you proceed, or the cakes may fall apart when you cook them. Add the mayo, mustard, hot sauce, vinegar, chopped bell pepper, spices salt and pepper, and mix well. Add the bread crumbs and nori and use your hands to incorporate.

Once you are ready to form the cakes, preheat a thin layer of oil in a heavy bottomed non-stick skillet (cast iron is great) over medium heat. Pour a few tablespoons of panko into a bowl. Scoop a little less than 1/4 cup batter into your hands and form into a ball. Flatten between your palms and then roll the sides gently with your hands cupped to smooth them. You should have ten 2 1/2 to 3- inch patties. I do them in batches of five. Press them into the panko to lightly coat. They don’t need to be thoroughly covered, just a little bit for some texture.

Fry a batch of five cakes for 4 minutes on one side and flip when dark golden brown. Fry for 2 minutes on the other side and transfer to a paper towel or paper bag to drain. Do your second batch and in the meantime make your remoulade by mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl.

Serve with lemon wedges.