Top vegan food to order in Yo Sushi!

Yo Sushi! I can't quite get enough of it. Cheap, quick and tasty and you can order as much as you want without the waiter looking at you funny because you only get little plates. Keep it coming I say! Really good food that is Asian inspired and there's plenty of these restaurants about to dine in. I never really change my order here because what I normally order doesn't get old. You can't say that about many dishes! Here's what I order when I visit Yo Sushi! and what I recommend you try out too.

1. Vegetable gyozas

To start off with why not try the vegetable gyozas? Only a small dish but enough to wet the appetite. The gyozas come as a set of three and are full of flavour like soy and ginger. You're sure to want to get more as it's so tasty and really tastes like what you'd hope good Asian food would taste like. They're always piping hot so if you have the willpower, give it a minute to cool down.

2. Cucumber nori 

Next, try out the cucumber sushi which is a set of 6 small seaweed rolls, sushi rice and small pieces of cucumber. Light and refreshing and great with soy sauce. A little on the sweet side, but not overboard.

3. Vegetable firecracker rice

A personal favourite, the firecracker rice packs a kick sure to give you a foodgasm. No really. Packed with flavour and mild heat, the dish comprises of sticky rice, carrot, spring onion, sesame seeds and more. Moist and fulfilling, the dish is sure to put a smile on your face. Try at least two of these dishes if you want to feel full up.

4. Vegetable yakisoba noodles

To end the dinner date, try out the vegetable noodles, a perfect comfort food. Packed with ginger as well as spring onion, carrot and red pepper. The meal is a party in your mouth. I'd suggest to keep a napkin nearby as it is a little on the oily side though, but totally worth it.

And that's what I highly recommending eating. Who said finding tasty vegan food was hard?! Let me know below what you order at Yo Sushi! when you go. As a massive fan of the food, I'd love to hear.

Liam

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Las Iguanas: Vegan food

Ahhh Las Iguanas Swansea, the place I go to so often that they know my name and my order when I arrive. Yes really. They have even called me that "lovely vegan boy" because I'm there so often! I am a true regular so you can guess that I highly recommend going there if you're thinking about it and can handle the spice. But say you do go, what are you going to order? Well sit back and put on your seat belt as I tell you what my favourite vegan food is to order in Las Iguanas that you'll end up enjoying too.

I like to start off with a cheeky dish of Holy Guacamole, usually to share (sadly) but this could be a dish for one if you don't like sharing, like me! It comes with corn tortilla chips, guacamole, red onions, chopped tomatoes and parsley. Mix all this together before dipping your chips in and you're in for a treat. That's a promise! It's very flavourful and super creamy. I've never had guacamole so creamy before. You get the perfect portion size to satisfy your hunger whilst you wait in suspense for the main.

As for the main, I recommend ordering the veggie chilli, made vegan, along with vegan refried beans and tortilla wraps. Why so much? Well if you haven't worked it out already, it's to make mini enchiladas, not just to be greedy. Sadly Las Iguanas only do vegetarian enchiladas and not vegan ones, so to make up for it add the rice, chilli and beans into the four wraps and it's like you're having the vegetarian enchiladas. Perfecto!

The chilli is made with butternut squash and chickpeas in a spicy tomato sauce and comes with spring onion rice. The portion size is fairly generous so you're going to leave with one full belly. The wraps and refried beans equally taste just as good and compliment the chilli dish very well. I advocate not eating much before this meal because it is a serious dose of carbocide that is going to fill you right up. This is my favourite meal to order. There is a ridiculous amount of flavour and you get so much for your money. I spend roughly around £10/£12 each time. Plus the staff are always so friendly. A massive shout-out for the Las Iguanas team in Swansea for always being so hospitable, so friendly and always knowing who I am! They create a great atmosphere whilst serving great food. Well done Guys!

What's your favourite dish at Las Iguanas?

Restaurant rating: ★★★★★

Liam

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Like this? You might also like:

Top 2 places to eat vegan food in Amsterdam city

Zinco Lounge: Perfect Comfort Food

The Perfect Hangover Cure: Urban Zen Cafe

What do vegans eat? Food Diary 24/10/2016

Food: my favourite thing e v e r. No matter how you're feeling, you can always count on food to look after you and make you happy. Plus with so much variety to choose from we're spoiled on what to eat - yes, even us vegans have a lot of choice! I for one have had a fun food-filled day today, so go take a look below and lust over it all.

Breakfast 

If I could eat cereal all day every day, I probably would. Some people like pizza, I like cereal... 

For breakfast this morning I ate bran flakes with crushed pecans, chia seeds and flax seeds served with a splash of almond milk and agave syrup. This was my pre gym meal and it tasted fab, plus was full of energy and protein.

Mid morning snack

I was pretty hungry after the gym this morning (to be honest I'm hungry 24/7) so was excited for my first snack of the day. I ate a green smoothie which had spinach; ginger; almond yoghurt; orange; 2 bananas; wheatgrass; oats; and, My Protein vegan protein powder in it. Along with this, I had a Bear blackcurrant fruit roll which had "no added nonsense" in it (it's literally baked blackcurrant; so addictive), plus a Trek coconut protein flapjack and two falafels. Surprisingly this did fill me...for a few hours.

Lunch

Just looking at my lunch in this photo is making me salivate, help.

I wanted a high protein lunch today since I worked hard at the gym this morning #gainz. To accommodate this, I made smashed avocado on seeded bread with paprika, black pepper and a pinch of salt. I also had one of Quorn's vegan soups that I've been dying to get my hands on for a while; it tasted great and was full of Quorn vegan pieces; lentils; chick peas; tomatoes and a bunch of Moroccan spices.

Post-soup I ate a handful of almonds, cashews and a bag of Nakd's salted caramel nibbles to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Dinner

Damn, this was a tasty grub.

I have eaten so much protein today, who says vegans don't get enough?! My protein packed day ended with a protein packed dinner of hummus and steamed peas; roasted carrots with garlic and thyme; spicy peanut satay spaghetti; and, a spicy vegan Quorn burger.

And that's my food for the day. Tasty. Nutritious. And SO FILLING. Excuse me whilst I go and roll around the place now that I can barely walk...

What was your favourite meal from today?

Liam

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What do Vegans Eat? Food Diary 15/10/16

When you hear the phrase 'vegan diet', what food do you think of? If you're not vegan, it's likely to be salad; beans; grass; anything 'earthy to be honest'. Am I on the right lines here? Well to give you some insight into what a vegan actually eats, here is a food diary of everything I ate on this cold rainy Saturday.

Breakfast

Yes, that is a flamingo plate.

Breakfast is probably my favourite meal. It's the last thing I think about at the end of the day and the first thing I think about when I wake up. I. Love. Breakfast. Today's breakfast was comprised of some jumbo oatmeal with agave syrup, chia seeds and, cinnamon in unsweetened almond milk. Along with this (yes there was more) I ate 2 vegan sausages sandwiched between some brown bread and tomato sauce, followed by a handful of pecan nuts. I also had two blackcurrant fruit rolls. They do say to have a breakfast after all...

Mid morning snack

To keep me going until lunch time, I needed something light and nutty. I decided on Alpro's almond and soy yoghurt which by the way is my latest vegan find and it is amazing. I also had a small handful of almonds to satisfy my nutty tooth.

Lunch

Lunch: my second favourite mealtime of the day. Today's lunch was a peanut butter and strawberry jam wholemeal sandwich teamed up with a cooked sweet potato and baked beans. I normally use the standard white potato with beans but fancied something a bit different today. Sweet potato has since won my heart. Goodbye and rest in peace white potatoes.

Mid afternoon snack

I don't go a day without a green smoothie so today was no different. Sadly I was a bit low on fruit so had to make do with what I had. I blended spinach; wheat grass; banana; vegan protein powder; chia seeds; fresh root ginger; and, water. Normally I would add some raspberries, pineapple or mango to the mix too.

I also had some brazil nuts on the side (if you haven't gathered just yet, I'm a big fan of nuts).

Dinner

I ended today with a glorious vegan curry from a local restaurant of mine. Cheeky. It was mildly spiced with the tastes of India and packed with carrots; tomatoes; onions and cauliflower on a bed of boiled rice. I added a sweet peshwari naan to the mix too as they offered to make it vegan, so of course I couldn't resist. You'd be surprised how accommodating some restaurants can be these days, change is coming!

And that's my day in food. Stay tuned because these food logs will be a regular occurrence in response to the regular question: But what do vegans eat? Plus it gives me an excuse to eat more..

What have you eaten today?

Liam

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Zinco Lounge: Perfect comfort food

If you're a vegan like me, you might miss one food you used to eat more than anything. In my case it's BURGERS (vegi ones of course). I am a burger connoisseur and when I was vegetarian I ate them religiously when dining out, but now as a vegan I find them really hard to come by as most have egg and cheese in them #VeganProblems. However tonight I was pleasantly surprised to see Zinco Lounge a restaurant near me had a vegan burger on the menu, you read that right. It goes without saying that I was in my element.

Dark and mysterious?

Alternative decor.

The restaurant had a good variety of food. It was nice to see that they took the time to make a menu just for us vegans out there, much appreciated! There was a few options to choose from but without any hesitation I chose the Thai spiced quinoa and edamame bean burger with slaw and rustic fries. As you may know restaurants commonly create bean burgers as a vegetarian burger alternative. And although what I ate was a bean burger, it was refreshing to see that Zinco Lounge put a twist on the classic by using edamame beans instead of the typical kidney or cannellini beans. The edamame beans were paired with Thai spices and quinoa which was very original and tasty. Along with this I also added a side of guacamole to spread on the burger and Sourdough bun. I used this as a mayonnaise substitute and it was delicious and so silky smooth. Overall it was a really tasty meal, but the burger probably could have used a little less spice but that's just a personal preference!

Look how smooth that little pot of green goodness is!

Tastiest fries I've had in a long time and they came in a mug.

The restaurant also accommodates for gluten free and vegetarian so has covered it's back on a range of diets out there and we both know how hard that can be. As for the vegan menu, take a look at it here:

You're not reading the menu wrong, that does say vegan cakes.

If finding vegan dinner out isn't hard enough, hearing about vegan desserts is almost unheard of. I was so excited to see this wasn't a problem at Zinco Lounge who offered a fruity flapjack as well as a ginger and dark chocolate torte, both of which would normally have honey and dairy in. I ended up buying both because my card 'accidentally' slipped into the card machine? Whoops. Not normally a fan of dark chocolate but always up for trying new foods I surprisingly enjoyed the dark chocolate and ginger torte. The ginger in it wasn't overpowering and I found the dessert very moist and moreish. It was very sweet just like the flapjack which was also very tasty. Unlike the torte, I did find the flapjack extra sweet, but luckily I have the world's biggest sweet tooth so didn't mind.

Dark chocolate and ginger torte.

Fruity flapjack.

Would I go back? Yes.

Total cost: £14.35

Restaurant rating: ★★★★

Where do you go for your burger fix?

Liam

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Related links:

http://thelounges.co.uk/lounges/zinco/

Sticky stir fry Sunday

Quick, easy and very cheap. Before you get ahead of yourself, I'm on about my stir fry! I'm addicted to it and make it religiously - anywhere between once to three times a week, mostly on the weekend. It's just so satisfying and full of nutrition so you can't go wrong. Make it with an array of vegetables, meat substitutes, seeds or whatever you want. It's also good for getting food out of your fridge that's going to go bad soon. Plus, no matter what your cooking skills you're sure to not mess this one up!

I like to team up my vegetables with my home made sticky peanut satay sauce that will keep you coming back for more! I use peanuts, soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce for this, and occasionally I add  extra garlic, orange juice and ginger for a bit of a kick.  As for the veg, this dish can involve any of the following:

Carrots  / Peppers / Beansprouts / Broccoli / Cabbage / Cauliflower l Edamame beans / Onions / Mangetout / Water chestnuts

I use coconut oil to lightly fry the food.

For protein I always add tofu, vegan quorn 'chicken' pieces, chia seeds and sometimes cashew nuts - and for carbs, I boil wholegrain rice in vegetable stock.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes
*Lasts for around 2 days so long as it is in an air tight container in the fridge.

The prep:

• Start by grabbing you utensils: Sharp knife; cutting board and cooking spoon.

• Now you'll need your veg. How much is completely up to you but I tend to use about 400 grams. Once you're ready, wash it all and cut it julienne, alternatively grab a ready stir fry pack if you're in a rush. Just as good.

• Cut up 300 grams of tofu into cubes and put aside.

• Measure out 2 mugs of brown rice and place in a boiling hot pot of water for 20 minutes on a high heat, along with 1 cube of vegetable stock. Stir every few minutes to make sure it doesn't burn.

The sauce:

• In a small bowl, mash up one tomato with a folk until smooth and add in 2 table spoons of balsamic vinegar, a pinch of black pepper, 1 teaspoon of grated ginger root and 1 teaspoon of grated chilli (or two teaspoons of chill powder). Now whisk. 

• Next add 1 teaspoon of paprika, half a clove of fresh grated garlic (or half a teaspoon of garlic powder) and finally, 2 table spoons of brown sugar. Now do a final whisk of this and put aside. This is your sweet chilli sauce.

• In a separate bowl, add in 2 and a half heaped table spoons of peanut butter like this one and 4 teaspoons of soy sauce like this one and whisk. Melt this in the microwave for 20 seconds before mixing in the sweet chilli sauce from your other bowl.

The fry bit:

• In a wok, heat two tablespoons of oil until very hot and then pour in all your tofu and make sure to fry it so every side goes golden brown. 

• Now pour in your vegetables and reduce to a medium heat and continuously stir. After 5 minutes, reduce cooking heat again to low so the veg lightly cooks for a further 10 minutes.

• During the final 5 minutes of cooking pour in your peanut satay sauce and mix it in with 3 table spoons of chia seeds and a handful of cashew nuts.

• Finally, drain your rice in a sieve for several minutes and then serve along with your veg whilst it's hot.

This meal is both filling and delicious and everyone loves stir fry. Not only will it taste great, but it's packed with fibre, protein, magnesium, vitamin c and iron. Score! Now give it a try and let me know how you get on in the comments section below.

What do you put in your stir fry?

Liam

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The perfect hangover cure: Urban Zen Cafe

So you wake up after the night before; all your clothes are still on, you smell of alcohol and regret -and your head is pounding. Oh wait, is that just me?  At least that was me last Sunday morning.  All I wanted to do is stay in bed and feel sorry for myself all day long, but I was determined to fighting 'the lazy' in me and doing something. Doing something in Liam land generally involves eating, so my cousin and I decided to get some grub to help cure the worst hangover I have ever had. We went to Urban Zen Yoga Studio & Cafe.

Urban Zen cafe sharing the cacti love.

Urban Zen's cafe is very local to me but somewhere I've never ventured to. I've been meaning to go for SO LONG though. 

Nothing like a quick read whilst you eat. There were a whole bunch of magazines and recipe books to gaze your eyes on.

The cafe serves divine home-made whole-food which is organic, locally sourced, has unrefined flour and sugar in it and is plant based. This is a refreshing change from all the food chains in Swansea, as many don't offer vegan and those that do aren't the best. The fact that Urban Zen Cafe is all vegan makes me wonder if I'm dreaming?  The world needs more places like this, don't you agree? If you're wondering if the food was tasty though, the answer is yes, yes, and yes again.  You can really tell the team have put a lot of thought into what food they're creating as it goes beyond the basic salads and falafel dishes that many vegan places offer. 

When I saw the menu, my heart immediately chose to eat one of their wholemeal wraps, which was filled with marinated tempeh, vegan mayo, avocado, tomato, hummus, lettuce and leaves. This was served with a beetroot and red cabbage coleslaw and a simple salad of spiralized cucumber, lettuce, red pepper, grated carrot and spring onions. I was so excited to eat the wrap specifically as I've never eaten tempeh. I know, I know, I'm a vegan who's never eaten tempeh? WEIRD.  Turns out it's pretty tasty! Teamed up with all the other ingredients, the wrap was moist and packed with flavour and their vegan mayo was to die for. The salad was also very tasty, and that's coming from someone who stays far away from salad. Just hearing the word is blasphemous usually. Urban Zen's salad has made my taste buds think otherwise as they are now craving it all over again.

Lunch.

Dessert.

Along with my meal, I ordered a "Tropical Trip" smoothie which was the perfect companion to my meal. It was a sweet blend of mango, coconut, banana and baobab, but the ingredient I tasted the most was coconut but that certainly wasn't a bad thing.  All together in this one meal, I got approximately 5 of my 5 a day, boom.  By the end of it I was pretty full, but they had desserts so I didn't stop there. My sweet tooth was saying 'Get one Liam. Do it' and I couldn't say no to the little guy. Plus it was vegan and had no nasty ingredients like cane sugar and white flour so it was guilt free and cruelty free. Sold. I decided on a gluten free chocolate peanut slice. It was super tasty, sweet and full of crunch, the only downside was the size of it as I could have eaten a whole tray of them. 1 is never enough, right?  They used coconut sugar for sweetness and it really worked.

Contrary to belief, you don't need greasy food to cure a hangover, at least that's what I've learnt from coming here. But I don't need to be hungover to return. As Arnold Schwarzenegger once said, "I'll be back".

Cafe rating: ★★★★

Where's your favourite place to eat at to nurse a hangover?

Liam

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Related links:

http://urbanzenyogacafe.com

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJ75j3sANH7/