Vegan – Nicole Eats and Travels

Eating My City, Eating Out Meat Free, Nicole Eats Video Series

Video: Buffalo Cauliflower Bites at Daya

In this episode, watch as Daya Chef Hector shows me how he makes one of my favorite dishes at the restaurant, Buffalo Cauliflower Bites. If you were (or still are) a fan of buffalo chicken wings, this is such a great alternative! Spice, crunch, and the accompanying blu cheese dressing (which is vegan too!) will make you forget all about the meat option.

For more information about Daya, visit: http://www.dayarestaurant.com.

Be sure to watch Part 1 of my visit to Daya, where I help make Crab-less Cakes!

Eating Out Meat Free, Nicole Eats Video Series

Video: Vegan Crab Cakes at Daya Restaurant

I like to think of myself as a crab cake connoisseur, so when I heard of Daya‘s Crab-less Cakes, I knew that I had to try one. And, yes, it was definitely a winner. Thick, crunchy, and flavor filled… it was the perfect way to try one of my favorite dishes, meat-free.

In this episode, watch as Daya Chef Michael shows me how he creates this crowd favorite.

Eating Out Meat Free, Nicole Eats Video Series

Video: Inside Central Florida’s VegFest

Each year, Vegetarians of Central Florida hosts VegFest, which has become one the biggest and best vegetarian festivals in the country! Going into its 10th year, VegFest offers something fun for everyone. There are great speakers, hands-on food demonstrations, an animal haven, live music, and they even have a “veggie kids zone.” This year’s event will be held on Saturday, October 24, at Orlando Festival Park from 10 am to 6 pm.

Eating My City, Eating Out Meat Free, Vegan

Winter Garden’s New Plant Street Market Offers a Great Vegan Option in Press’d Juice Bar & Kitchen

From my house to the nearest vegan eatery is more miles than I would like to travel on a lazy weekend afternoon. Living on the west side of Central Florida, this has been one of my most recent food struggles. This may not sound like a struggle per se, but finding the energy to drive for at least 30 minutes to get, what I admit is awesome, food is just way too much for my mind and body to take on a non-work day. But as you have [hopefully] read, I continue to find the energy to do such a thing weekend after weekend. Well, except for a recent weekend when, instead of venturing to the Winter Park, east, or downtown parts of town, I went just a little bit down the road to visit Winter Garden’s newly and much lauded Plant Street Market. Among the many eateries, bakeries, coffee shops, and knick knack shops, was Press’d a.k.a the answer to my close-to-home-vegan dreams. It is where I would quench my appetite for a meal that I didn’t even know I missed until I had it again—the remixed version, of course.

Eating My City, Eating Out Meat Free, Vegan

Plant-based Food,10 People, $20-Three-Course Meal: Basal Eatery is a Nice Welcome to the Vegan-scape of Central Florida

My introduction to what I now know as the awesomeness of Basal Eatery started with a simple request from a friend: “Hey, let’s go to this dinner next Monday.” Vegan, plant-based food. Only 10 people. $20 for a three course meal + wine. An opportunity to have an extraordinary evening on an otherwise ordinary weekday. It wasn’t a hard sell. I was in, and I remained excited all the way to the time… well, honestly, even after having already “done the do,” I remain excited about this new addition to the vegan-scape of Central Florida.

Eating Out Meat Free, Nicole Eats Video Series

Video: Khasiyat Indian Restaurant Shows Me How to Make Vegan Chole Bhature

I had an amazing time at Khasiyat Indian Vegetarian Restaurant cooking and eating vegan Chole Bhature, which is a customer favorite and turned out to be my favorite too! The chickpea and curry mixture paired perfectly with the bhature, which is a type of fried bread. Check out the video to see how we did it!

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Eating Out Meat Free, Nicole Eats Video Series

Video: Khasiyat Indian Restaurant Shows Me How to Make a Great Vegan Samosa

I had an amazing time at Khasiyat Indian Vegetarian Restaurant cooking and eating vegan samosas, a customer favorite. We stuffed the homemade shells with a chunky potato mixture then fried them to perfection. Check out the video to see how we did it!

Eating My City, Eating Out Meat Free, Vegan

I Celebrated Cinco de Mayo Vegan Style with Burritos and Tacos at Ethos Vegan Kitchen

Cinco de Mayo 2015 will go down as the very first time that I took part in the celebration. I will admit that my celebration of the day, that at the time I had completely no idea what it represented, was a mistake. How does one celebrate Cinco de Mayo by mistake? Well, in an attempt to schedule a much needed drink outing with a friend on a dead night in downtown Orlando, I, ironically, scheduled our outing on what is probably one of the most rowdiest days in the year. Before I could even think of rescheduling, I received an email from Ethos Vegan Kitchen alerting me to their special Cinco de Mayo menu, and the rest, as they say, was vegan history.

Eating My City, Eating Out Meat Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Mamak Asian Street Food Is One of the City’s Great New Options for Vegetarians and Vegans

For the past 5 months, I have unknowingly been driving right by what would become a place that I would come to rave about to my friends and family. So you don’t make the same mistake as I did, allow me to introduce you to Mamak Asian Street Food. If you live in Central Florida, it is quite easy to 1. miss it on your drive down the always-busy Colonial Drive and 2. not think much of it as its street appearance is quite unassuming. Being the adventure eater that I am, after the 1,000th time of passing by wondering what on earth was going on inside, I did a bit of research, liked what I saw, and decided to call up a friend to try the place out with me. One bite in, and I knew that Mamak would be a place that I would come to again and again.

Eating My City, Eating Out Meat Free, Vegan

The Newly Opened Blissful Juice Cafe Served Up A Few Vegan and Raw Heavy Hitters

After passing by the shop day after day on my way home from work over the past few weeks, I decided to stop by Orlando’s newest vegan eatery to try a few items. I’m happy to say, that I am very glad that I did.