Denver Vegan

This is a blog about Denver, Vegan food, and being vegan in Denver. I'm Anna, I live in Capitol Hill with cats, and I make a lot of vegan feasts. I like beets a lot.

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Today's delicious breakfast at City O City: Lapsang Souchong tea, and a tofu omelette with seitan sausage, peppers, and Daiya. Also, home fries, coleslaw, and a biscuit. DAYUM.

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Went to the soft open of Nooch Vegan Market.  Thank the gods this place exists.  I picked up some Teese Cheese, soup mixes and sweet treats.  They are going to be carrying Denver Seitan Company soon, which makes me all kinds of happy.  It’s a bit of a trek from our place, but totally worth it.  The Denver vegan scene continues to surprise me in it’s size.  I love this place.

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IT'S OPEN! I hope I get a chance to go this week. Holy balls this is amazing.

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Another Root Down raw night! So good. Courses:

1. Chilled 'Roasted' Red Pepper Soup Olive Tapenade, Avocado Mousse 2. Caliente y Frio Jalapeño Poppers, Peach-Ginger-Chia Agua Fresca  3. Jicama Tacos Chipotle Smoked Refried 'Beans',  Cilantro Lime 'Rice', Radish Slaw,  Carrot Mango Hot Sauce  4. Platanos Dulces Banana Praline Ice Cream, Pie Crust,  Mexican Mesquite Chocolate Syrup 

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I am a new vegan in Denver. Do you have any restaurants you would recommend? I have always gone to Watercourse but I was wandering if there were other great places to explore. Thanks!

I answered a similar question pretty recently, so take a look at that for some of my favorite restaurants. I also would recommend looking at this list by Vegan Coloradical! If you want to meet other vegans, try going to Plants and Animals events. 

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Another thing I forgot to post: City O' City happy hour on Saturday. I had a drink special that was Goat vodka with lemonade and Earl Grey and Lavender simple syrup, and a Bloody Mary. We also got to try one of their happy hour foods, the kimchi torta, which was pretty decent besides being pretty charred and a bit on the greasy side. I decided Caesar salad would balance it out, and ended up getting so full I thought I was going to barf.

Here's something exciting: Nooch Vegan Market is hinting at something. Opening this week, perhaps? I hope so!

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I can't believe I forgot to post about Chomp! last week. For those unfamiliar, it is a monthly vegan dinner put on by Plants and Animals Denver.

It was all raw (for "Rawgust") and really good, although I could easily have eaten twice as much. Marinated portobellos, raw onion rings & ketchup, raw kale salad, and a little chocolate tart. We didn't stay long, but it was fun. Speaking of raw, tomorrow is raw night at Root Down, and I'm drooling with anticipation.

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Hey, I'm moving to Denver in a few days and I was wondering if you maybe had a top 5 favorite vegan restaurants that you go to? Also, any grocery stores that you really love and maybe possibly the best areas you think are best to live? Haha, Really, anything would help. Thanks!

Well, first I would recommend Watercourse and City O' City, both of which are amazing vegetarian restaurants where you can order (almost) everything vegan. Root Down is not a vegetarian or vegan restaurant, but they label their vegan options clearly and have a raw vegan night once a month. Sputnik also has a lot of vegan options and labels them well. The Vegan Van is a great food truck.

We are getting our own all-vegan grocery store, Nooch, within the next couple of weeks! Right now I mostly shop at Whole Foods, but there are a lot of good Asian grocery stores on Federal Blvd, and one downtown (Pacific Mercantile).  We also have Tony's Market and Marczyk Fine Foods, which are fancier markets. We have some good farmer's markets around town as well.

I'm a little biased but I'd recommend Capitol Hill. I love this area and would never leave it, but my second choices would be Baker or the Highlands.

I'm on my break at work, so I know I'm forgetting some things, but Vegan Coloradical is a really great resource. Have a good move!

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Hi! How long have you been a vegan?

Hi! Well, I started by going vegan for a couple of years, probably 2006-2008, after having been vegetarian for several years. Then I was broke, started dumpstering non-vegan food occasionally, and ended up giving up on veganism and going back to just being vegetarian. As of about a year ago, I decided to go back, and I'm way more committed to it than ever before. So that's kind of the long answer, but there you go!

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I almost forgot to show off my delicious cold soba bowl that I had at City O City this past weekend! In kimchi broth with fried carrot and mango... mm hmm.

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Another recent dinners post! I haven't been cooking as much because work is getting crazy and it's unbearably hot out, but here are some things to look at. Once again, lots more description on my other tumblr! Seitan chorizo burger, fajitas, lettuce wraps, tofu scramble, pita pizza, blackened tofu, tacos, and Mediterranean tofu scramble. Enjoy!

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Last night's dinner. Is it weird that I get really proud of my salad bar creations from Whole Foods? Buried under there are some shredded beets and carrots, and some spinach and celery and edamame and artichoke hearts and I don't even know. 

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hi! you have great amazing food photos! I was on your other blog, and was wondering what kind of camera and lens do you use for your photos on there?

Thank you! Strangely enough, I've been using my boyfriend's iPhone. I'm too lazy and cheap to get a proper camera. I'm glad you like the photos, though! 

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hi! i just found both of your blogs, on my quest to transition into veganism, and your blogs are giving me lots of useful advice. thanks for creating such nice, helpful blogs :) also, i noticed the print in you dining room is an Avett Brothers quote! fabulous! anyway, thanks for recipes and all. have a good day!! :)

Aw, thanks! I'm glad to be able to help a bit! Let me know if I'm ever missing a recipe that you want or anything.

PS: I'm glad you recognized the quote! By the way, that print was made by our friend Brennan Gilbert. It's pretty awesome.

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Raw night at Root Down! Everyone should go to this. It only happens monthly, and it's a little pricey, but completely worth it. My brain exploded more and more with each course. And it's all raw, vegan, and gluten free!

Fresh Thai Coconut Horchata Five Points Fermentation Kraut Beet Borscht Cheesecake Pistachio Chive Crust, Arugula King Trumpet 'Scallops' Zucchini Ribbon Salad, Romesco Chocolate Ganache Pie Almond Bing Cherry Whip, Chai Syrup  

SO GOOD.

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so i recently became interested in becoming a vegan. What are some basic food/recipes I can make thats easy and good for me? tankks so much :) p.s. loving the blog

When I first went vegan I made a lot of stir fries, a lot of tofu scrambles and a lot of grilled things. These are all easy and you can experiment with them. If you're ever feeling lazy, it's easy to make some rice and throw some frozen veggies and sauce in a pan for a few minutes.

Try crumbling up some tofu and cooking it in a pan with a little oil, garlic, soy sauce, spices, and veggies you like. You can try adding things like peanut butter, sausage substitute and nutritional yeast if you want to get creative. I also used to eat a lot of beans, mashed up and cooked with spices, and spread on toast. It's an easy snack. 

The main thing for me was to take an interest in cooking. Look up recipes that sound good and try them out. Get excited about trying new herbs, spices, and vegetables, and don't be afraid of any of them. VegWeb is a really good resource that I've used for years. You can also find non-vegan recipes and figure out ways to "veganize" them by substituting ingredients.

I know that was a little wordy and vague, but I hope it helped a little. I have a lot more food-related stuff/recipes on my other Tumblr. If you see something that looks good that I didn't give a recipe for on there, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to help.

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VegFest Colorado! This is currently taking place at the Jefferson County fairgrounds, it goes until 6 so go now! It was really fun and there were tons of delicious vegan food samples. We had some smokey tofu and slaw sliders from Watercourse's tent, and I got a lot of delicious things, as you can see: Teese, a couple of Denver Seitan varieties, a jar of chipotle raspberry "ricotta" from Watercourse, some vegan jerky, stickers, a Nooch tote bag, and my personal favorite, animal saint prayer flags. 

We got to sample all kinds of things. Tofurky was there with hot dog and taco meat samples, there were pickles, fudge, cake, Qrunch burgers, energy bars, anything you can imagine. Sea Shepherds, PETA, Plants and Animals, Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary, and lots of other advocacy groups were there too. The turnout was impressive. It was really packed.

Next week is going to be exciting, by the way. We have reservations for raw night at Root Down on Tuesday, Chomp! is on Wednesday, and next Sunday is Neat Market! 

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I got a package from Spencer's Market yesterday! Rawtella, sweet potato orzo by Flour City Pasta, Quinn popcorn, and some Himalayan pink salt.

Rawtella is so-so, it's definitely not as good as Nutella. I think I like Justin's chocolate hazelnut butter more. Oh well. 

Quinn popcorn: Well, the popcorn did not pop in the microwave, so we popped some in our air popper instead and just added the seasonings (canola oil, maple sugar and grey sea salt) which did make it pretty delicious. 

The pasta I've had before and it is amazing, and the salt is, well, salt. So that's about it for my mail-order treats.

Then we went to Watercourse last night. I had the blackened Caesar wrap and Ricky had the sweet potato tacos with tempeh chorizo. I also had a cup of Genmaicha instead of beer, because I wanted to feel good for VEGFEST TODAY!!! Which I am terribly excited for.