vegan and gluten-free indulgences for san francisco bay guardian

7 vegan and gluten-free indulgences

FEAST: Superlative eats for limited diet, charcuterie to quesadillas

True, at first glance a vegan and gluten-free lifestyle sounds like a joke from Portlandia's Allergy Pride Parade. Wave those flags high, besmirched friends. But here's a non-snarky thought: for some people, it's just life. They have actual allergies to gluten and/or dairy.

Or, there are those who simply eat delectable vegan meals for personal reasons and have best friends, family, or partners with high risks of Celiac disease. Either way, any way, whatever way, with all the delicious, forward-thinking offerings in the Bay Area, it ain't so bad. In fact, it's really, really good. Don't hate, just taste. [...]

tofu dearest: mexican sweet potatoes for poor taste magazine

Batata! Sweet potatoes, spiced up Mexican-style
“Only a vegan!” my coworker chirped cheerfully when I told her what I was warming up for lunch: the spicy sweet potato taquitos I had made at home the night before. I instinctively thought, “you should be so lucky” as it is my first reaction whenever someone questions something so delectable on my plate. Really, what could be better than a spicy Mexican meal that incorporates such a distinctive flavor as sweet potato [...]

tofu dearest: vegan brunch for poor taste magazine

Seven Vegan Brunch Dishes You Must Try Before You Die

In honor of Poor Taste’s gargantuan gathering of the best brunch spots in the U.S., I decided to focalize the task even more, to highlight the dishes themselves and pay respect to the vegan options, wherever the restaurant.

I’ve eaten at or been regaled with stories of a great many vegan brunch across the land, from decadent waffles soaked in syrup and Earth Balance pillows to healthy homemade oatmeal with soy milk and fresh strawberries. I wanted to celebrate my favorite of these options, but also open it up to you, fellow vegans of the planet, to share your own favorites [...]

tofu dearest: vegan filipino for poor taste mag

No Worries, Vegans Eat Filipino Food Too
Chef Jay-Ar Isagani Pugao is out to change the public perception about Filipino food. The executive chef-restaurateur owns Oakland’s No Worries, an entirely animal-free vegan Filipino spot, and he wants the food world to know there’s a healthy side to the fare. It’s believed to be heavy and fatty, he said during a Dishcrawl cooking demonstration and dinner last month, but it doesn’t have to be [...]

tofu dearest: rescue chocolates for poor taste mag

Vegan Chocolate Rescue Bunnies
It’s everywhere this month — crunchy, chocolate, Peep-y Easter candy. It fills our drug store aisles and taunts us with milk derivatives and smooth bunny shapes. My own Easter memories are warm with huge baskets stuffed with chocolate eggs and character Pez dispensers. My brother and I would stalk around our Irish-Polish Catholic grandparents’ backyard in Antioch, Calif., sniffing out brightly colored eggs then pouring our finds across the living room carpet [...]

tofu dearest: vegan myths for poor taste magazine

We’ve all heard it a thousand times before, from the nosy friend of a friend, the second cousin, the ex-co-worker, what have you. They’ve read some unfounded study somewhere in the wilds of the Internet and henceforth decided that vegans can’t possibly get all those juicy meat-based nutrients, or they lack protein, or vegans are at elevated risk for heart disease. Untrue, untrue, and double untrue.[...]

tofu dearest: valentine's for poor taste magazine

A few years back the live-in boyfriend surprised me on Valentine’s Day with a small, white take-out box full of cocoa-dusted vegan truffles [...]

tofu dearest for poor taste mag

The Locavorism vs. Veganism Problem
Many vegans, myself definitely included, find the concept of including locavorism to their already specific diet extremely daunting. Sure, we gladly avoid meat and animal byproducts by crafting delicious meals from scratch or checking out every new vegan-friendly restaurant within a 20-mile radius. But many of our products, the ones we use on a daily basis, weren’t made or grown locally [...]

tofu dearest for poor taste magazine

Potato Pancakes and Israeli Donuts: A Vegan Does Chanukah
Oil popping off shredded potatoes, fragrant with freshly chopped onion and spices. Yes, Chanukah has always been a special time in my family. Besides the tradition, the candles, the gifts — there was always the food [...]

tofu dearest for poor taste magazine

Love and Sambal: A Vegan Goes Indonesian


I’ll be the first to admit it; I knew little of Indonesia before I met the live-in boyfriend. Now that I’ve tasted the region’s style of food many times over, I’ve become completely fascinated with it [...]

tofu dearest for poor taste magazine

Vegan Halloween: My Bloody Punchbowl (and Other Ghoulish Treats)
Growing up, Halloween was always my favorite holiday — and it remains at the top today. Oh those evenings I spent dressed as a pink-cheeked cheerleader, glittery mermaid, French painter, and “weirdo” (I went through phases, okay?), hoarding treats earned through rigorous doorbell ringing and appreciative smiles [...]

tofu dearest for poor taste magazine

Dreaming In Swirls of Cinnamon
Are you aware that if you live anywhere in the U.S., you can now have a box of four gooey vegan cinnamon rolls delivered to your door? Not only that, but the cinnamon rolls come with a variety of delicious flavor options. It’s a mind-blowing concept, I know. I’ll let you sit and salivate with that knowledge for a moment [...]

tofu dearest for poor taste magazine

The Art of the Vegan Lunch
The after-summer dregs can get anyone down. Classes have begun; vacations from the office are just a memory. There is one thing, however, that can pump a vegan’s mood once he or she is back to a day-to-day routine — a tasty lunch to look forward to [...]

tofu dearest for poor taste magazine

Nothin’ Fishy About Vegan Sushi
Perhaps it’s sacrilegious to promote the art of sushi without fish, but isn’t being vegan all about creative ways to make food? And what could be more creative than a meal centered on an ingredient that will not be included?

I used to think of sushi in black-and-white terms, too. Sushi equals fish which equals avoidance, simple as that. Slowly but surely, it dawned on me that sushi could be made vegan by simply replacing fish for veggie for a healthy and tasty Japanese meal [...]

tofu dearest column for poor taste magazine

The Taco Chronicles
Name any kind of meatless, non-dairy ingredient and I’ll find a way to taco it up [...]

tofu dearest column for poor taste magazine

Meatless grilling on a summer’s day
Lately, all I can think about are three syllables: bar-be-cue. Maybe it’s the hazy, pleasant vibe of the summer months in general [...]

tofu dearest column for poor taste magazine

I’ve missed you most of all, pizza
I stared intently at the greasy delivery pizza slice forming grayish pools of oil on my paper plate, fully aware of the impending stomach trauma [...]