Do your research

Sites like HappyCow.net, VegDining.com, VegGuide.org, etc. make it easy to find restaurants and health food stores on the road and at your destination.

VegCooking.com has a huge list of vegan menu items at chain restaurants, including fast food.  They have a Restaurant of the Month feature, as well as a whole “Vegan Eating while on the Road” page and a “Vegetarian-Friendly Restaurant Guide.”

Books

Healthy Highways is helpful to have around, but the problem with books like these is that they go out of date pretty quickly.

One book though, that I have found to be absolutely essential is Vegan Passport.  I bought this at Food Fight Grocery when I was buying some other vegan groceries and I absolutely love it!  (It appears that Food Fight no longer carries it, but maybe if we ask nicely they’ll order more!)

Technology

Even better than books is, of course, the internet and your phone.  There are quite a few sites out there that you can rely on for great info about vegan, vegetarian and veg-friendly restaurants.

iPhone apps:  Veggie Passport (translator like Vegan Passport that has many phrases in 33 languages – costs $1.99)

HappyCow.net’s app is called VegOut and it’s $2.99.  Highly recommend this one!  I’ve used it in some pretty obscure places (like Joplin, MO) and found some great restaurants.

VeganXpress is $1.99 and has over 110 common restaurants and their menu items that are suitable for vegans.  It also includes a full list of vegan and vegetarian beers, wines, snacks and junk foods that are vegan-friendly.  Definitely worth $1.99!

There is a ton of info on the web about other vegan/vegetarian phone applications.  Just put google to work and have fun!

Car travel

Road trips are great because you can completely control everything that you eat.  You can bring a cooler and keep all kinds of things with you like fresh fruit and veggies, baked tofu, Tofurky slices, tofu jerky, condiments, vegan cheeses.  You can make sandwiches before hand or even at a rest stop.  If you’re camping, you can prepare all your meals easily.

Chain restaurants

Boston Market, Bucca di Beppo, California Pizza Kitchen, Carrabba’s, The Cheesecake Factory, Maggiano’s, The Melting Pot, Old Chicago, The Old Spaghetti Factory, Olive Garden, On the Border, P.F. Chang’s, The Palm, Panera, Papa John’s, Pei Wei, Pizza Hut, Ruby Tuesday, Quiznos, Starbuck’s, UNO, etc. all have vegan food.  Be sure to ask your server, or better yet, do your research ahead of time as servers are not always familiar with vegan requirements.

Ethnic/International restaurants

If you’re in a city or town without vegetarian restaurants, there will usually be at least one Indian, Thai, Mexican, Ethiopian, Japanese, etc. place.   As with any other restaurant, you’ll want to ask questions about how the food is prepared, is chicken broth or fish sauce, etc., used, but chances are you can get a pretty decent vegan meal at one of these places.

Fast Food

Taco Bell, Chipotle, Baja Fresh, Q’doba, Jamba Juice, Wendy’s, etc all have vegan options, and you can at least get a salad without animal products at most fast food places.

Vegan travel doesn’t have to be hard.  Sure, I make it my business to navigate the issues I could potentially run into, but with a little pre-planning, so can you!

Happy travels!

For the last few weeks I have been musing over the last year and how fantastic it’s been.  Here are just some of the highlights:

I started the year with my first vlog and a road trip across the country with a friend.  Ate some incredible food, met up with fabulous people and saw a good portion of the U.S.

I was interviewed by VeganCulinaryExperience.com and VegetarianWomen.com.

Traveled to Phoenix and Seattle before heading out to Australia for the month of March.  What an experience that was!  I ate so much great food and met so many awesome Aussies and fellow travelers.  Check out some of my photos here.

In April I took a road trip from E. Lansing, MI to Oklahoma City, OK.  I was home for a day, then I went to Tahoe for a weekend getaway with my best girlfriends from high school.

One of the biggest things to happen to me all year was appearing on the cover of the Nashville Scene in May.  That photo opened a lot of doors for me and was so much fun!  I’m so thankful for that.

Speaking of photos, I went to Bonnaroo in June and ended up on the Maxim Facebook pictorial Babes of Bonnaroo 2.  My bikini photo from the Nashville Scene also earned the honor of one of the Hottest Girls on Facebook at Maxim.com.  Ecorazzi and Vegetarian Star picked up the story as well.  Fun!

My site was nominated for the second year in a row for a VegNews Veggie Award (Favorite Web Site) and was also named one of the Top Ten Vegetarian Web Sites.  Thank you, VegNews, for your continued support!

Summer also brought my second trip to Vegetarian Summerfest, where I got to speak about vegan travel, reconnect with old friends, make lots of new ones, and witness one of the best weddings ever.

AR 2009 was a blast too!  I met some of my vegan idols, had a great time with awesome folks I had met the year before and I interviewed my good friends Michelle Taylor and Robert Cheeke.

Michelle interviewed me for her online TV show, Vegan Break, and I also appeared on the Robert Cheeke Show.  I had the privilege of speaking with Ed Coffin on the Eating Consciously Podcast and Vance Lehmkuhl’s VegCast #70.

In September I was part of the Tennessean experiment Vegan for a Month.  I got to be the unofficial Vegan Lifestyle Coach for five members of the Tennessean staff as they ate vegan for thirty days.  It was a lot of fun, and great exposure for veganism.

September also brought me to Toronto for the 25th Annual Vegetarian Food Fair.  So much fun!  I got to hang with some of my favorite vegans as well as some old friends I have known online for years.  Great trip!  Toronto is a fabulous city and very vegan friendly.  Can’t wait to go back.

October was a busy travel month.  I went to Portland, where I spent time with family and hung out with my friend Robert Cheeke.  Robert and I saw Gary Vaynerchuk at Powell’s and of course ate some amazing food.  I also got to speak about Why It’s Easy to be Vegan at the Central Florida VegFest, which was a great experience.  VooDoo Fest in New Orleans during Halloween weekend was super fun too.

I came to Nashville in 2000 to pursue my singing career and this year I started working on my first album with Producer/Guitarist Extraordinaire Biff Watson.  Vance previewed my first single “Let Go” on VegCast #75 and I’ll be releasing more music via MySpace and iTunes very soon.  Yay!

November and December were pretty quiet as far as travel is concerned, but I found lots of amazing vegan food right here in Nashville, as you can see by my latest blogs.  Nashville is becoming more and more vegan friendly and it’s exciting to watch and experience!

I am so thankful for my life.  I get to travel all over the world eating great vegan food, I have amazing friends and family and a rich, full life in Nashville.  In just one year I got to eat in these forty cities:

Memphis, TN
Plano, TX
Austin, TX
Big Bend, TX
Tucson, AZ
Joshua Tree, CA
Palm Springs, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Phoenix, AZ
Tempe, AZ
Sedona, AZ
Asheville, NC
Seattle, WA
Sydney, NSW, AuS
Manly, NSW, AUS
Melbourne, Victoria, AUS
Brisbane, Queensland, AUS
Mullumbimby, NSW, Australia
Gold Coast, Queensland, AUS
Hamilton Island, Queensland, AUS
Hot Springs, NC
Knoxville, TN
East Lansing, MI
Joplin, MO
Oklahoma City, OK
Truckee, CA
Incline Village, NV
Oakland, CA
San Francisco, CA
Manchester, TN
Johnstown, PA
Santa Rosa, CA
Napa, CA
Toronto, ON, Canada
Atlanta, GA
Portland, OR
Denver, CO
Orlando, FL
New Orleans, LA
Nashville, TN

Thank you all so much for your continued support.  2010 is looking to be amazing and I look forward to sharing my experiences with you.  Happy New Year!

On my recent trip to Los Angeles for AR 2009, I had the privilege of meeting and sharing a meal with Kevin Boylan, one of the owners of The Veggie Grill. I was so inspired by his story, his business sense, and of course, the amazing food! The Veggie Grill has found the winning formula for healthy, delicious, inexpensive, convenient meals, something this country so desperately needs.

The Veggie Grill has served over a half million plant-based meals in 2.5 years. Over 90% of the restaurant’s patrons are non-vegetarian, which really goes to show that the demand is there, and not just for those of us who choose to eat vegan all the time.

Although Kevin is very busy with the day-to-day duties surrounding his quickly-growing restaurant chain, he was kind enough to take time to answer some questions for TheTravelingVegetarian.tv.

TTV: What are your goals for The Veggie Grill? Are you franchising?

KB: Our goal is to become the “Whole Foods” of the restaurant industry, which goes along with our mission statement: “Make it fun to eat wholesome.” We are putting off any decision regarding franchising at this time. Our intent is to continue to own & operate our restaurants for the time being.

TTV: Where do you see the business is five years? Ten?

KB: We are now positioned to become the first national brand serving wholesome (which we define as 100% plant-based) comfort food. We intend to grow our base from three to six locations over the next twelve months, and then from six to twelve over the following twelve months. At that juncture we will have the infrastructure in place to support an aggressive national roll-out.

TTV: Why is The Veggie Grill thriving when so many restaurants and other businesses are failing?

KB: We are meeting a need: Delicious food that people can feel good about eating, served by friendly & thoughtful people in an attractive & convenient setting.

TTV: What was the process in coming up with the current menu? Was it one chef? Several?

KB: After an exhaustive period of due diligence, which included sampling food from coast to coast, we found Ray White who has been working with plant-based recipes for 10+years. We then worked together with Ray to develop the menu that you see today. Our team is constantly striving to improve & innovate, so we add new, delicious items on an ongoing basis.

TTV: Is the menu the same at all locations?

KB: Yes it is.

TTV: What would you say is The Veggie Grill’s signature dish?

KB: That’s a difficult question, as some guests love the Santa Fe Crispy Chickin’, while others swear by The Stack. However, pretty much everyone is amazed by our Sweetheart Fries & carrot cake.

TTV: What’s your favorite thing on the menu?

KB: That’s like asking me which one of my children is my favorite! I’m enthralled with all our dishes!

TTV: What inspired you to change your eating habits?

KB: Our inspiration to adopt a 100% plant-based diet was based upon the overwhelming body of evidence that we discovered as we were researching the food business, which clearly demonstrates the benefits of a plant-based diet. We feel better, and our wives tell us that we look better too; who needs any more inspiration than that!

The Veggie Grill has won many well-deserved awards including “Restaurant of the Year” from VegNews Magazine and “Best New Restaurant” in any category from the OC Journal.

Delicious food that people can feel good about eating is working very well.  I know this Traveling Veg is definitely looking forward to The Veggie Grill coming to Nashville.  In the meantime, I can’t wait to get back to Southern California for a Bali Bliss with blackened tempeh and avocado and a side of those amazing sweet potato fries!

Bali Bliss - Indonesian styled tempeh, sautéed and grilled, lettuce, tomato, red onion, chipotle ranch. Add avocado, portobello mushroom or chili for $1.50. Blackened upon request.

All Hail Kale - Marinated organic kale and red cabbage, roasted corn salsa, agave-roasted walnuts with a ginger-papaya vinaigrette. Add blackened chickin’ for $2.50.

Carrot Cake - Free of dairy, cholesterol and refined sugar - Full of deliciousness!

There is just nothing quite like spending time with hundreds of like-minded people, sharing ideas and amazing meals, making and listening to music, finding creative new ways to spread messages of nutrition, cooking, animal rights, etc., and this year especially, celebrating LOVE!

I met Rae Sikora and JC Corcoran last year at the Pittsburgh Airport.  I was waiting for the shuttle to take me to Johnstown, PA and when I saw JC in a sweatshirt with VEGAN written on the front, I knew I had found my group.  I didn’t know any of these folks before, but they made me feel welcome right away.

Throughout the weekend I got to know them better by listening to Rae’s incredible talks and by visiting the Plant Peace Daily booth and chatting with them both.  I was struck by how Rae always seemed to address JC as “Mi Amor” or “My Love” every time she spoke to him.  Their love for each other was so apparent and incredibly beautiful.

This year I unfortunately didn’t get to share the shuttle ride with them, but as soon as I saw Rae when I arrived on campus, we exchanged hugs and kisses and I found out the most wonderful news:  She and JC were to be married on Saturday in the Adirondack Shelter on the UPJ campus.  They had met at Summerfest three years earlier, so it was completely fitting that they celebrate their love with their extended vegan family at the place where it all started.

The wedding was officiated by the amazing Howard Lyman, who is always an inspirational speaker.  Rae and JC wrote their own touching vows, which were heard for the first time by each other as they were being spoken out loud.

There was music, laughter, wine and a lovely cake made by the fabulous Dairy-Free Dessert Diva Fran Costigan, but even though it had the ingredients that characterize most weddings, this one stood out to me in so many ways from any I’ve ever attended.  Summerfest is an amazing family and I believe the love that Rae and JC share and radiate is enough to renew anyone’s faith in relationships and marriage.  It definitely had an effect on me and I know I’m not alone.

I am so honored to have been part of a such a beautiful celebration.  My very best wishes to Rae and JC, two of the most incredible people I know.

Peace.

I attended my first Summerfest last year and it definitely changed my life.  I blogged about it here.

I’m really looking forward to seeing the incredible people I met last year and it will be great to make new friends as well.  Let me know if you’re going!

Speaking of catching up, you may have noticed that I have a ton of new pics up on my Flickr page. I plan to get them all labeled and captioned soon so you can all know what and where I ate Down Under.

I met so many great vegans on my trip and never had any problems finding great veg restaurants to try. I went to a couple of veg pubs and Man, do I wish Nashville had something like that! I know that Seattle and LA have veg bars, but I want one here too. Combining my love for food with my adoration for good beer is always a good thing in my book. Mmmmm.

I have three new video blogs up and I will of course be recording more on a regular basis. I hope you’ll check them out! I also hope to have some tidbits of great news that I will be sharing soon. Life is good for The Traveling Vegetarian. Thanks for reading, watching, etc. Peace.

I just got back from a long road trip across the country. My good friend John was planning on exploring California for a while and invited me to make the trip out there with him. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to travel and eat great food! We took our time, stopping in Plano, Austin, Big Bend National Park, El Paso, Tempe and Joshua Tree. We parted ways in Palm Springs where I rented a car and drove to L.A. to visit with friends and eat at some fantastic restaurants.

I have to say, L.A. was great. It was wonderful to connect with new and old friends. But the journey out there was the best part. Exploring new cities with a great friend who eats even more healthily than I do was amazing. We ate fabulous food, got lots of exercise and sunshine, had some amazing discussions and laughed a LOT. I took hundreds of photos and I will have those memories forever. Totally, totally worth every penny.

It was wonderful to see my VegNews friends again and meet some new folks as well.  After lunch, Rey Ortega of Sun Flour Baking Company stopped by with Dan Piraro, a fellow vegan and artist whom I have wanted to meet for some time.  I got a photo with Dan and a bunch of cookies from Rey, so all in all, a pretty fabulous time at VegNews!

By the way, have you seen their new website?  It looks great!  Thanks again, Friends.

I definitely have more to blog about from the weekend, so stay tuned!

I’ve been traveling throughout Latin America for years and one thing I have noticed is that even though vegetarianism and veganism are practiced throughout these countries, the actual idea of it just isn’t vocalized as much. I’ve tried to explain this concept to the locals who eagerly nod as though they understand and then immediately offer me chicken.

Over five years ago, I’d landed in Costa Rica and found out that this country’s cuisine is full of vegan delights! And you know what, I’m going to share some of these yummy foods with you right now.

Beans and Gallo Pinto are the pure essence of a Costa Rican meal. What I love about these two recipes is how simple and tasty they are.  Plus, they can go with almost anything, while giving you your full protein intake for the day. And for vegans, it’s all about the PROTEIN.

Beans (Re-fried)

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound of black beans
2 onions
4 garlic cloves
1 tomato
canola oil
salt to taste

SUPPLIES:

pressure cooker
frying pan
blender (optional)

Cook It Up!

Place the beans in the pressure cooker with one liter of water covering them completely. (Inside fact: the more water you have the better.)
Put an onion head, 2 garlic cloves, and a tomato with salt in with the beans. Cover and cook for one and a half hours. (Insider Fact: Salt will prevent the beans from spoiling fast and the longer you cook them, the softer they will get and the less discomfort you’ll have.)

Once it’s done, let cool.
Chop up the other onion very fine with the other two garlic cloves.  Heat up the frying pan with the oil and then add the onion and garlic to it.
Uncover the beans and smash up the cooked onion, garlic and tomato along with the beans, so as to blend it all together. Then ladle the cooked beans with the water into the frying pan.
Mix it up with the frying onion and garlic for 15 minutes on low heat.
They are fantastic with rice, tortillas, nachos and whatever else you can think of.

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We had four days of lecture and demonstration by Chef Maia Cunningham and Chef Ben Adams, which involved lots of theory and eating.  We also had two half days of supervised hands-on cooking in the kitchen and an afternoon of knife skills training.  The last day started with meal composition theory and ended with a complete meal cooked by Chef Ben.

This course was exactly what I wanted in a cooking class and it really exceeded my expectations.  Even though the ingredients were vegan, I was the only actual vegan in the class of five.  I had the least amount of cooking experience out of everyone (we had several professionals chefs!), but I did have a head-start as far as basic familiarity with a lot of the ingredients.  I also already knew how delicious and healthy vegan food can be when it is prepared correctly.  It was really fun to see how surprised some of my fellow classmates were to see that you really don’t need eggs and milk to make amazing desserts and that you don’t even need tofu to make incredible cream sauces, custards, cakes, etc.

I am amazed at all I learned in a just a few days, both from my instructors and my fellow students.  I will be using the skills I have learned every time I’m in the kitchen.  I went to Whole Foods upon my return and was like a kid in a candy store.  I couldn’t wait to buy all the new vegetables, oils, spices, etc. that I learned about in school.

The School of Natural Cookery has future plans for online courses.  They will also come to you if you can get a decent sized group together.  If you’re looking for a lot of life-changing information in a short time, I highly recommend this course!

I made this!

I made this too!

Some of my classmates and me

Chef Ben Adams and me