Raleigh!
By Monica on July 4th, 2008
So I spent the better part of last week in Raleigh, NC. While certainly not the vegan mecca of PDX, there were way more food choices than I’m used to in Illinois. Go North Carolina!
Up first was a stop at Mellow Mushroom for some Spring Water Dough Pretzels with marinara:
And an amazing pizza aptly called the “Mega Veggie”, loaded with sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, onions, green peppers, black olives, tomatoes, banana peppers, broccoli, artichoke hearts, and tofu. The tofu is really not radioactive, the sun was just that bright! Mellow Mushroom was a really fun place, good food, very veg-friendly with knowledgeable staff, and we got to sit outside enjoying the gorgeous NC weather. I’d go back in a heartbeat.
The next day it was off to the State Farmer’s Market in Raleigh, an amazing 225,000 square feet of gorgeous local produce and plants. Peaches and melons were in season, tomatoes (which won’t be in IL for another 2 months!), squashes, peppers - it was amazing!
There are even a ton of fresh beans, which I would have loved to take home with me, but I didn’t think they’d fare so well in the cargo hold of the airplane!
As if that weren’t enough, there were pineapple trees for sale! I’m a pineapple fanatic, so the prospect of being able to grow these suckers was enough for me to move to NC right then and there!
Our next stop was Spotted Dog in Carrboro. Admittedly, we ended up there only because the THREE other restaurants on our list were all closed for various, strange reasons. Apparently divine intervention wanted us to have these faux wings:
and this imitation chicken BBQ sammich with beer battered french fries. Both were pretty good, even though I thought the wingz were a bit overpriced at ~$8 for the portion you see above.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised that Raleigh, technically being a part of “the south”, was as veg-friendly as it was. I didn’t find bacon in every single vegetable dish like I have in Florida and Georgia, and most places had vegetarian sections of the menu. Again, go North Carolina!
But lastly, I’m going to leave you with a recipe for Rhubarb Ice Cream, about the only thing I’ve managed to cook since coming home. It doesn’t look very appetizing, I’ll admit. What it does, however, is taste like a rhubarb pie in ice cream form. And if that isn’t the best thing EVER, I don’t know what is.
Rhubarb Ice Cream (inspired by AllRecipes)
3 cups sliced rhubarb
2 cups sugar*
1t lemon juice
1 cup coconut milk
Place rhubarb, sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a slow boil and cook until rhubarb is tender, about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and (carefully!) transfer contents to a food processor or blender. Process just until rhubarb is in pea sized chunks, or your desired chunkiness.
Whisk in coconut milk.
Process per the instructions on your ice cream machine, and then freeze overnight to let harden a little more.
*This is very, very sweet. Use less sugar if you’re concerned with diabetes or you know, tooth rot!
VeggieGirl says:
The pizza and pretzels look great; and that farmer’s market looks like heaven!! Hooray for Raleigh, NC!! :0)
Mmm, rhubarb ice cream - now THAT’S satisfying.
Happy 4th of July!
July 4th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
jessy says:
“mellow mushroom” = yummah! dan & i went to one in ashville about 7 years ago (at the time i was just a vegetarian) - but we remember them be’n pretty freak’n awesome! and speaking of awesome - those wingz look sooooooo tasty! and i think the rhubard ice cream looks fantastical! now i totally want a pretzel. mmmmmmmmm!
July 4th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Shellyfish says:
I admit ashamedly that I would never have guessed you could find such vegan bounty in the South (one bad experience tainted me…but no longer!).
And now I have one more thing to do with rhubarb! Wee! I love the stuff, and it’s everywhere!
July 5th, 2008 at 6:31 am
Chocolatecoveredvegan says:
Monica, you always seem to take the best vacations! I am STILL jealous of your San Fran trip, and now you tease me with this?!
Next time, can you smuggle me into your suitcase?
July 5th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Animal-Friendly says:
I would love to go to that farmer’s market! Wow- fresh beans and pineapple trees! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pineapple tree before….
Your rhubarb ice cream sounds excellent- it’s just one of those fruits I would have never thought of putting in ice cream (but now it makes perfect sense!)
July 5th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Lisa (Show Me Vegan) says:
Imitation chicken BBQ? Sounds like Raleigh is kicking St. Louis’ butt in the vegan friendly department!
July 5th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Billy says:
Thanks for the comment on my recent post. I’m going to be a rural vegan like you soon!
July 5th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Maureen says:
I love when cities surprise with their vegan offerings. Everything in this post looks soooo good
July 5th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Vivacious Vegan says:
Oh my gosh, those fresh beans look so wonderful. It’s actually possible to start growing your own pineapple tree. Apparently it takes about 3 years to get 1 mature fruit. After reading all about how to do it (tons of info online) I had much more respect for fresh pineapples and how much time it takes to grow.
July 6th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Kati says:
Those baby pineapples are so cute! I had no idea NC was so veg friendly - it looks like you had a fabulous trip! Pretzels, mmmm…
July 7th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Tori says:
Yum! That ice cream looks great. I want some with strawberry sauce.
I love taking vacations and exploring the vegan options. Veganism is much more fun and exciting than omni-ism
July 7th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Destiny says:
Those pretzels looks so good!
July 7th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Veggie says:
Oh, I’d love to have a pineapple tree in my backyard!!
I’d would love to try the Rhubarb Ice Cream but I don’t have an ice cream maker.
July 8th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Mihl says:
No radioactive tofu? That#s too sad
Those pretzels loot to die for and I wish we had such a farmers market anyway nearby!
July 9th, 2008 at 4:48 am
Jess - The Domestic Vegan says:
That farmers market looks fantastic!
July 9th, 2008 at 5:00 am
Erin says:
Whod’ve thought that NC would be so vegan friendly? Very nice.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:31 am
eatavegan says:
A fellow Illinois vegan here! Isn’t it nice to get away to more vegan-friendly climes every so often? But you’ve got to love the challenge of living it here as well…
Question for anyone out there — any ice cream recipes that don’t require an ice cream maker? I half-remember the plastic bag and rock salt method from third grade, but does that only work with dairy milk? Thanks for any help on that one!
July 9th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Vegan on stage says:
the pretzels… the pizza… and the ice cream!!! WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW
its all suposed to be bad,, but its good!!!!!
that market looks wonderful by the way
July 10th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
happyherbivore says:
oh my vegan. every photo shows the next one up. The produce! the FOOD! oh wow. I am in envy land.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Ashley Nicole says:
Those pretzels, wowza!! I just love big, soft, warm pretzels.
Beer battered french fries = crispy love.
What a delicious post!!
July 16th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Pink Theory says:
I went to NC state for undergrad and Raleigh is definitely more vegan friendly than other parts of NC…guess b/c the university is there and it’s the capitol! Glad you got to enjoy the farmer’s market there. Your pics brought back some memories!
July 16th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
jd says:
Wow! All of your pics are fantastic!
I’m totally jealous of your trip to NC - you just put it on the vegan map
August 4th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
ashville vacations says:
ashville vacations…
I can’t believe that I missed your point, I will have to do some research on this….
August 25th, 2008 at 8:14 am