Tucson Vegan Food and Meal Prep

Hey everyone! I hope you've all had a great week so far. I've been getting through ok but today I will be having a tooth extracted sooooooo we'll see how I feel for the rest of the week. I have a feeling you'll be seeing a lot of super soft food next week.

For today's post I have some vegan food I've tried here in Tucson as well as some meal prep I've done over the weeks and haven't had a chance to share. 

I went with a friend to Lee Lee International Market to check out all of the amazing stuff they had from all over the world. It was pretty great with lots of fun ingredients. One of my goals is to take advantage of having a pretty decent kitchen and my own personal space and start to cook some pretty great meals and also learn how to cook more from my culture and from other cultures. I did not buy anything from the market on that day since I knew I wouldn't be cooking much with the dental work coming up but I will go back once I've healed a bit.

After the market we went to a Vietnamese restaurant located right next door called Com Tam Thuan Kieu Restaurant. I got some lightly pan fried rice noodles with tofu, bok choy, broccoli, onion and carrot in a super delicious sauce. The sauce looked really light but it was so flavorful. I definitely want to go back because it was absolutely delicious.

The next place I tried is a gluten free bakery called dedicated. a gluten free bakery and coffee shop. I had heard about this place because it is strictly gluten free and has a lot of vegan options. When I was getting the air conditioner in my car fixed I noticed it was nearby so I went and had a coffee while I waited and knew I wanted to get back there to try a few things. My intention was to get some muffins but the flavors they had were not super appealing to me so I took one for the team and got this amazing vanilla frosted brownie. The texture was really great for gluten free baked goods, I would highly recommend it.

I also got this mini banana loaf with chocolate chips. It also had a great texture and it was definitely good but I preferred the brownie. I also make some decent banana bread so I feel like I'd rather just make my own. 

Moving on, I have some meal prep to share with you. First is some blueberry almond baked oatmeal. I had one piece of it and it was delicious but I didn't have much of an appetite for most of the week so I ended up freezing most of it. I think if I heat it with some almond milk it should be soft enough to eat while I'm healing from the oral surgery.

I had an extra gluten free pie shell and decided to make another broccoli "cheese" quiche with it. I'm pretty sure I've only ever made quiche with these shells, never a sweet pie. They are so good and really easy to make with Just Egg and whatever fillings you like. I season the Just Egg with black salt and pepper and add it to some lightly steamed broccoli and shredded "cheese" of choice. It has been one of my favorite things to make. I will usually make crustless quiche because I don't have these shells on hand often but this is so good. I highly recommend trying it!

Finally, this isn't the most beautiful but it was really really good. I basically made a lasagna but instead of noodles I used roasted eggplant. I made some tofu ricotta and added some spinach and it was really delicious. The only thing I wish I had done differently was get some more eggplant because I definitely didn't have enough to get full coverage on each layer.

So that is what I have for you today! I can't imagine I'll have any super exciting meals to share over the next week or two but I'll keep you updated. I will also be continuing to share my adventures thus far in Arizona and on the way to Arizona and I have a fun one planned for Sunday! Thanks again for stopping by 💜