I am in a health food group that meets once a month. The first seven meetings were vegan dinners followed by watching Dr. John McDougall's seminars. The final class was a pot luck with Dr. McDougall joining us live via SKYPE.

We are now a once a month Supper Club with the best vegan buffet you could ever imagine.

One of our organizers went on a two week raw diet and is working on an 80/20 plan.

Based on his new experience he gave us a challenge.

Taste a soup with all ingredients cooked over the stove
Taste a soup with some of the vegetables blended raw, then added at the end to the warm temp of the soup.

I am trying this this weekend. Would love to challenge a few of you and hear back.

Thank you now. On my list!

I have started looking into a small toaster/microwave and found one that is also a steamer: http://www.amazon.com/Sharp-Microwave...

Sounds too good to be true. I would probably use the steam feature more than I would toast or microwave.

What is the catch?

It is disappointing for me since we were regular lunch/brunch patrons and there were some amazing items on their lunch menu that are no longer available. Rather than dining at plant twice a month it will now be twice a year as we tend to dine out at lunch.

I am glad that they are prospering to the point that they can cut their hours in half. Plant is an amazing place!

I will miss my favorite lunch/brunch spot.

Several months ago I received an e-mail from Plant saying something to the effect that to better serve their customers, they are expanding to serve dinner seven days a week and closing for weekday lunch. They will continue to serve brunch on the weekends.

Plant sent another mailing out last evening saying they are constantly growing and no longer serving weekend brunch.

So sad. What will they do next to better serve and grow?

I will be staying at the Renaissance Hotel with mornings free and access to a car. Looking to spend the mornings exploring and getting away from the convention area to have a healthy breakfast, grab a light to-go lunch then return to the hotel for afternoon and evening sessions of bridge at the national tournament going on this week.

Vegan friendly dinner suggestions near the hotel also appreciated.

Plant is one of the best restaurants in Asheville and happens to be 100% plant based. Creative and absolutely wonderful dining experience. I had lunch there two days ago and was told that a large number of their loyal customers are not even vegetarians, they come back for the great food. Jason and his wife moved to Asheville from NYC where he trained at the Natural Gourmet and worked at Candle 79. He was head chef at another local vegetarian restaurant before going into partnership and opening Plant earlier this year. http://plantisfood.com/

IndyGirl,

Thank you! I made Smitten Kitchen's mushroom bourguinon yesterday and it was an absolute hit by everyone, mostly non-vegetarians. I read a few links to this recipe and several folks suggested using a variety of mushrooms. I combined quartered portabella mushrooms with dehydrated oyster and shitake that I soaked overnight and sliced. It was so easy to make ahead. We attened yesterday's premier of Les Miserables and it was a joy to return home to spend a few minutes in the kitchen to serve this luxurious dish with side salad and rolls.

Gathering with a few friends for an early afternoon movie. Can you think of anything fun casual that would be open around noon for lunch somewhere near Hendersonville Road or Long Shoals?

One thing I was told to watch for when ordering a gas range or cooktop was to avoid gas burners that you have to convert from natural to LP. There are a few companies that manufacture LP burners without the need to convert. The BTU output of the burners converted from natural to LP gas tends to be reduced.

Laurey's "Gourmet Comfort Food" offers eat-in, take-out and catering services. I have not tried them, but they were highly recommended from a friend. The Thanksgiving menu look impressive.

http://laureysyum.com/

I remember one of his downtown Chapel Hill venues offering the best Bouillabaisse I have ever had. This had to have been at least 25 years ago.

I have seen a variety of growlers from local brewers in the refrigerated beer section at Earth Fare in Asheville. They charge a refundable deposit on the bottle. I had never heard the term growler until I had family visit from Wisconsin who wanted to check out the local beer scene. They took home growlers of The Wedge.

The Triangle Vegetarian Society would be a good starting point to learn about vegetarian dining options as well as meeting other vegetarians:

http://www.trianglevegsociety.org/

I have been reading about their Thanksgiving buffet for years and one day I will make the five hour drive to attend. The tickets for this event sell out well in advance. The website says more info will be available in October.

I got excited about this evenings headline only to find in the body of the article that they will open vegetarian restaurants at two holy sites in India.

Oh, well. Hopefully the beginning on a few trend to put more plant based offerings on their menu.

After several years of having a vegetarian household we read "The China Study." A convincing argument for the health benefits of a plant based diet.

We decided to give it a try for one month. That was five years ago.

We are now reading about the benefits of a mostly raw 'living foods' diet and are trying to incorporate more raw into our diet with a daily green smoothie in the morning and a salad at lunch or dinner.

I think it helps when a couple have the same goal and make it fun to explore new recipes, source new ingredients andshare in food preparation.

We have a local vegan meal delivery service that is out of this world good and reasonable. When we are busy we order the main entrees and prepare our own breakfast, salads and sides.

Wingbean (our local Asheville area vegan meal delivery service just celebrated it's one year anniversary) : https://www.wingbean.com/

We went a few years ago and had an outstanding vegan experience dining at BOMA in Animal Kingdom. I was told to tell the waiter we were vegan. He went out of his way to identify many items on the buffet that were vegan and told us the chef would bring us a 'surprise." The buffet itself was lovely and mid-way through our second course the chef brought out a beautiful vegan plate. Not only great food, but he went the extra step to make it a true piece of art. Make sure to make reservations and tell your waiter there is a vegan at the table. The special service was remarkable. I was also told to arrive a few hours early to walk around the grounds at Animal Kingdom.

I will try to hunt down a website that outlines the vegan and vegetarian options at Disney including links to current menus.

Freezing and defrosting firm or extra firm tofu gives it a more substantial texture.

After the tofu defrosts try to gently squeeze excess water out of the tofu and slice into thee sheets and place in a plate layered with paper towels, cover with more paper towels and place an inverted plate on top then place a filled tea kettle or something else heavy over the top and let sit for 30 minutes.

I will cut into 1/2 inch squares and place in a mixing bowl to marinade with whatever sauce and seasonings. I like soy, ginger, lime, garlic etc.

Tofu can then be fried, added to a stir fry or roasted in the oven.

Qdoba Mexican Grill gets my vote for the vegan Mexican gumbo with added sides of grilled vegetables, black beans, pinto beans, cilantro-lime rice, pico de gallo, roasted chile corn in a vegetarian tortilla soup broth topped with crispy corn tortilla strips and fresh cilantro. When I first saw this item on the menu I wrote customer service to ask about the base for the tortilla soup and was told it was vegetarian. Vegetarians could always add a dollop of sour cream and sprinkled cheese.

This week's Mountain Xpress had a letter to the editor "Down and Out in Aisle One" complaining about the decline in quality at Earth Fare since the corporate buy out by Oak Hill Partners earlier this year.

http://www.gourmetnews.com/article/gn...

The sale took place this past April. I am not sure how this fell below my radar. I guess it took a few months for them to implement the dreadful changes. Incidentally, I read the article while enjoying a delightful lunch at Greenlife.

So sad.

Some time back my we tried to focus on adding more 'greens and beans' to our diet. Most mornings we created a bean 'sausage' patty consisting of mashed pinto beans, whole wheat bread crumbs, ground flax seed, Ener-G egg substitute, very finely diced onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, salt, pepper and a dash of Italian sausage seasoning. The patty was served over sauteed spinach or other green with sliced tomato. It constantly evolved, depending on what we had on hand. I might even drizzle a sauce or dressing such as miso ginger or dijon vinaigrette.

I must be blind. Have been up and down the stretch in front the Orange Peel a few times and can't find Little Bee. Directly across the street from the Orange Peel is a large old house, FBFC, Build it Naturally with public parking and the two story building housing City Bakery, Samsel Architecture, etc.

I have recently been following "Willing to Travel for Vegan Food" Blog. They give a glowing report on the vegan food scene in a few Florida cities:

http://wtfveganfood.com/northern-flor...

Wow! Great to know this. I noticed the sign change at the gas station a few weeks ago and wondered what was up. Thanks!

I first noticed the change on July 2nd at the Boone, NC location. I overheard a clerk apologize for the delay saying they were still getting familiar with the new deli items. I didn't take too close of a look at the items in the deli as I was just getting a salad from the salad bar. On July 5th I stopped by Earth Fare on Hendersonville Road in Asheville and was quite disappointed to find the changes. My guess is it is (or will be) chain wide.

The clerk behind the counter was trying to be upbeat when I noticed they no longer carry ANY of my favorites from roasted Brussel sprouts, soy glazed snow peas with garlic, Carolina slaw, ratatouille burgers, tabbouleh, Asian noodles to name a few. I was told they would be introducing new items seasonally. I remain hopeful that the quality and variety will one day return.

Earth Fare has totally revamped their Deli and removed most all of my favorite items. The deli case is now filled with small platters. On my last visit I saw four our five platters of potato salad, four or five cole slaw, a few mac and cheese, a few filled with mashed potatoes and a very unappealing looking quinoa salad and a few platters of chicken salad. I was told the new deli will focus on the seasons. At the peak of summer they can't find anything with color? The entire case was white!

Sad turn of events for this household.

As you leave Asheville for Blowing Rock, consider packing a lunch from Earth Fare or Greenlife. Get on the Blue Ridge Parkway to Spruce Pine for gem mining at Rio Duce Gem mine, get back on parkway to visit the Altapass Apple Orchard (enjoy your picnic lunch, music and hayride through the historic mountain orchard)... and then head north to Grandfather Mountain.

End thisbusy day in Blowing Rock to walk downtown. Here is a link: http://www.blowingrock.com/members.li...

Best Cellar and Bistro Roca are both nice, yet casual, restaurants. Outdoor patio serving good pizza would be Mellow Mushroom on Main.

Enjoy your vacation.

How sad! You would have thought the management company would have seen the regional draw of TJ over Big Lots.

Wow! Thank you Ipsedixit! Linden Garlic Farm looks like the real deal.

Alex, DeSoto Lounge. They post a new Tuesday Night Ethiopian menu every week on Facebook.