Noodles & Company has opened a new location in the strip center adjacent to The Mall at Green Hills. For those not familiar with Noodles & Company it is a fast casual restaurant serving pasta bowls that are freshly prepared.  All items are $5.95 for a large or $4.95 for a slightly smaller portion.

We have visited Noodles & Company in Denver on many occasions previously and are very happy to have a location now in Nashville giving us another vegan option.

I received a VIP (read: let us use you for training purposes) invite to a pre-opening event this past Saturday. My sidekick foodie was our 5 year-old daughter who is a pasta-lover. I checked the website beforehand to make sure I knew what was vegan friendly. There is a selection of nine items on the menu that either are vegan or can be made vegan with a simple omission. Tofu is an option to be added to any entree.

• Indonesian Peanut Saute
• Japanese Pan Noodles
• Chinese Chop Salad with no wontons
• Penne Rosa with no cream and no cheese
• Pasta Fresca with no cheese
• Whole Grain Tuscan Linguine with no cream and no cheese
• Spaghetti with no cheese
• Cucumber Tomato Salad
• Tossed Green Side Salad with balsamic vinaigrette

Upon entering we were greeted, asked for our names for the invite list and given a menu. While talking with the greeters, about 2 minutes,  no less than 10 people walked in the door only to be turned away when told it was invite only. Most seemed a little angry. I told the employees we were vegan and was quickly and happily handed a vegan menu, not something you get much of around here.  Usually when we tell a server that were vegan it’s typically followed by a blank stare and, “What does that mean?”

I had already decided to get the Japanese Pan Noodles and the kid just wanted a pasta so she decided to get Pasta Rosa. We added tofu to each, of course. Our food was served quickly and looked great. The one issue was the kid could not eat hers. It was far too spicy and I wished I had known it would be such an overpowering heat before she had ordered. A little spice doesn’t bother her but the Penne Rosa was far too hot for her. We packed it to go. The Japanese Pan Noodles was very tasty and not over-sauced. The dish was served with flavorful, seared tofu and fresh, crispy sprouts which my daughter thoroughly enjoyed picking from my plate. The noodles were a bit overcooked but I expect that to be worked out as this was, of course, a training session. I had planned on eating only half and boxing the rest but it was gone before I knew it.

The remainder of the Penne Rosa was reheated and eaten the day after our visit and tasted just as fresh as when it was served in the restaurant. I only wished I had some more of the Japanese Pan Noodles to munch on at the time. I plan another visit this week and I’ll likely try the Indonesian Peanut Saute or the Bangkok Curry. You’ll be seeing plenty of me at Noodles & Company in the future.

Noodles & Company
2116 Green Hills Village Drive
Nashville, Tennessee 37215
(615) 383-7740

Japanese Pan Noodles with Tofu

Penne Rosa with Tofu

Little Nashveggie with Penne Rosa

Over time I gather thoughts. Some I tell myself I’ll write about and some I think why bother. Most of these thoughts never have enough behind them to warrant a lengthy post for the site so I toss them aside and forget it. What I’ve decided to do is throw those all into one post. There won’t be much to go on but jump in the comments and complete my thoughts. I’m counting on you.

I’ve been on the fake meat bandwagon once in my vegan/vegetarian life. It was early on, of course, as most people who do get into that habit of eating with convenience in mind. I’ve not so recently put that aside. Fake meats are, to me, for transitioning vegetarians. They lend the familiarity of what once once the edible mainstay but as a vegan I have moved on to fresher foods. That’s not to say I don’t eat some here and there and you’ll likely see reviews for them pop up on this site. They are what they are, a transition food and that’s fine.

While on the subject of fake meats Just a mention that one of my biggest dining-out peeves is a vegan or vegetarian restaurant that relies on fake meats to fill their menu. How about the veggies, guys? I don’t want to pretend to chew pork or chicken/chick’n/chic’n, no matter how many letters you remove form the word, when I’m paying $15 to eat at your restaurant. If you can’t prepare fresh vegetables, and I don’t mean prepared in some gourmet-style, just simple fresh vegetables, then you have no place running a vegetarian dining establishment.

I have been noticing Earth Balance soy milks at Whole Foods for a few months. I’ve even bought the milks regularly but it wasn’t until recently that I noticed the absence of Silk products in the refrigerated section at Whole Foods. I asked about the disappearance and was told that Whole Foods had decided to stop carrying Silk due to the changes Dean Foods had made to the product line. Specifically, the dropped “Organic” from the standard packaging and came out with a new package design and marketed the Organic line again though with a higher price tag. There was no marking on the original package to signify it was no longer organic less the absence of the organic seal. Shady? Greedy? Shysters? No big deal?

For the past few months I’ve been doing P90X. I completed the first 90 days and immediately started a second 90 days which, at this point, I’m at day 60. I’ve had tremendous results losing some weight and finding muscles I never though I had. I have discovered that Tony Horton, creator of the series, is vegetarian and is now working on a vegan diet plan for his next workout series. Vegan P90X works!

“Flexitarian” is just omnivore disguised in a fancy catch phrase that makes advertising pop and sounds trendy. You know how people love trendy.

As the father of a vegan 5 year old I ‘ve often wanted to hear from other parents of vegan children. If you fall into that description drop something in the comments about your experiences. I would love to hear from you.

Today on my day off from being surrounded by carnivores at my job, I thought “HMmm, I think I will try something different today.”  My first venture in deep frying resulted in some very yummy shallots for a very yummy green bean casserole.  But, also a very, very smokey house and a not happy Mr. Nashveggie.  Today I decided to try homemade vegan doughnuts. After consulting my King Arthur Flour Bakers Companion and a few websites, I finally decided to try a combination of the recipes from those websites and King Arthur.

Unfortunately, today was not the day for rising in my house.  The first rise was fine, but the second, after little Nashveggie and I cut them out, was slow.  I finally got impatient and began heating a whole quart of oil in my lovely Le Creuset 3 1/2 dutch oven. This step took about 30 minutes to reach the suggested 370 degrees.  Once I got started, it was a ton of fun, even if I did have to keep a four year old out of my way.  I had baking soda and the lid to the pot handy just in case anything went awry in this foray.  The result… well, I don’t know how long it has been since you have a had a warm Krispy Kreme doughnut straight off the assembly line, but this…this was heaven.  It took me back to the day when Mr. Nashveggie and I would go to the Krispy Kreme across from Baptist Hospital to wait for the hot doughnut sign and eat a whole dozen, he with milk and I with OJ.  No OJ today, just a little taste of a fond memory and sweet goodness.

Pre-Fried Vegan Doughnuts

Hot Vegan Doughnuts Now!

UPDATED 2/18/10

Mellow Mushroom has long be heralded by vegans and vegetarians as one of the few places to munch on tempeh subs or get a tempeh or tofu topped pizza. Up to recently those pizzas and subs had to be cheeseless for vegans due to the casein in the soy cheese they used.   Now Mellow Mushroom is beginning to use casein-free vegan cheeses although the only locations in Tennessee are in Knoxville and Murfreesboro.

The following is a list of locations presently using casein-free soy cheese:

• Murfreesboro, Tennessee
• Conyers, Georgia
• Carrollton, Georgia
• Raleigh, North Carolina
• Durham, North Carolina
• Columbia, South Carolina
• Greenville, South Carolina
• Knoxville, Tennessee
• Douglasville, Georgia
• Hiram, Georgia
• Northlake, Georgia
• Lexington, Kentucky
• Decatur, Georgia
• Fayetteville, Arkansas
• Spartanburg, South Carolina
• Charelston, South Carolina
• Austin, Texas

If your location does not carry the casein-free alternative they can be persuaded!  Just ask! If you do get vegan cheese at a location not listed above please let me know so I can add it to the list.

Away from this site for the past week at least.  I have been taking care of things outside with the garden and preparing an herb garden.  Those tasks just take time away from the little things.  We have peppers, tomatoes, okra and squash growing in the garden so far.  The herb garden is taking a little longer as we need fill dirt and some more boundary rocks before it is planting time.  Two loads of mulch later the yard is looking much better.  A large maple tree was cut down this week in the front yard as it had died on one side and was threatening to fall onto our house.  I hated to cut down a huge tree, especially since it gave much needed shade in the afternoon sun but I also didn’t want to repair a roof.   Now we are looking for fast-growing shade replacement for that area.  Hybrid poplars and weeping willows are being considered.

In the cooking department I haven’t created anything earth-shaking lately.  The past week has consited of spaghetti marinara and tempeh sausage.   Red beans and rice,  roasted corn and macaroni and “cheese” and the usual veggie burgers (Amy’s are the best).   My wife did make coconut-lime cupcakes, those are always earth-shaking.   I owe someone a recipe and/or batch of eggless cornbread.  I’ll get to that one soon.

Other than those small things nothing much going on.

We do have fresh kittens, more on that later.