All posts tagged: vegan cheese

Impressions from Vegan Summerfest 2016, Ghent

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A couple of weeks ago, Belgian organisation BE Vegan organised the second edition of Vegan Summerfest. We went to the first edition in 2015 (see our post here) and surely did not want to miss it! This year, the festival was in the Artcube in Ghent, where BE Vegan had also hosted a talk by Jo-An McArthur last Winter (see blogpost here). A more spacious venue than last year, with more room inside and outside. We went early to avoid the big crowd as much as possible and to secure a parking spot nearby (by the time we left early afternoon, people were already parked several blocks away from the venue). The foodtrucks were outside and inside were two halls with stalls of organisations like Bite Back, Animal Rights, and also several shops selling shoes, books, food and cosmetics. With benches to sit down and relax a while. During the afternoon, there were some talks in yet another hall. Would have loved to hear Ruby Roth‘s ‘Vegan is Love‘ talk (via Skype), but that was scheduled for the late …

Finding vegan goodies at organic shop Mordan, Ostend

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Shop review #16 – Mordan is an organic shop in Ostend (at the Belgian coast) and has two locations: the oldest shop is the city center (right next to the main shopping street) and has been there for decades (see shop review #33 here). The other one is at the edge of Ostend, on the Torhoutsesteenweg. The latter one is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. As I grew up in Ostend, I know Mordan in the city center of Ostend quite well. I was recently in Ostend and wanted to check out the other one on the Torhoutsteenweg. So this blog is about the Mordan shop at the edge of Ostend, although of course their offer is similar in both shops. There’s a large parking outside shop Mordan 2, which for some people will be a big advantage as to the shop in the city center (where there’s no parking, as it is also in a no-traffic zone). When I entered the shop, I immediately noticed the shop is really packed with rows and rows …

A look inside vegan shop V|edge in Ghent

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Shop review #11 – V|edge is an all vegan shop in Ghent. It is located at the edge of the city center, near Sint-Annasquare. The concept store in Ghent is only open in the weekend, but you can also order online and have your shopping delivered at home. V|edge also delivers your shopping to delivery points in several cities, among which Bruges. Check their website for details. UPDATE: see below V|edge offers a variety of vegan products: vegan shoes, handbags, books, vegan cheeses, cookies, candy, energy bars, burgers, chocolate, and other goodies. It is a rather small shop, but they have many items that are otherwise no so easy to find in Belgium. We are not really into ‘meat or fish substitutes’ (the vegan scampis or burgers type of things). But because we hadn’t tasted Tofurky nor the sausages from File Roast yet, we bought some of those (the jury is still out on those, more about them later). Also some products from Gardein. We were very eager to try out the vegan cheese croquette’s from YASAI! V|edge’s homebrand though. Already tasted and much approved, …

Vegan cheese croquettes YASAI!

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We recently ate vegan cheese croquettes from YASAI!. This is is a homebrand of vegan shop V|edge in Ghent (our blog with a look inside shop V|edge will follow shortly). V|edge also delivers your online shopping to a delivery point in Bruges, every couple of weeks. Check their website for details. Just fry these cheese croquettes for 5 to 6 minutes at 175° in a frying pot, and they are ready to serve. These were yummie! Will definitely be buying these cheese croquettes again!   bought at V|edge, January 2015 10 frozen croquettes (500g), 13,99€

#32 Vegan dining at restaurant Mykene, Leuven ***

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Restaurant review #32 Mykene is a traditional restaurant in the city center of Leuven (Louvain). But unlike most other traditional restaurants, it has several vegan options standardly available! Leuven is about 15 minutes away from Europe’s capital. Mykene is a very large restaurant, with a terrace in front on the street and a spacious private terrace at the back. The photos below give you an impression of the interior. We had been at restaurant Mykene a couple of years ago, but at that time their vegan options were still rather limited (adjusting the vegetarian options, e.g. by leaving out the cheese), but now they have a seperate vegan category on the menu card (and yes, the “Belgian cheese” mentioned in one of the vegan dishes is vegan cheese, we asked 😉 ). Our vegan lunch at Mykene It’s nice they have freshly squeezed orange juice, although it was quite expensive for this little glass: 6€. For starters we had the soup of the day (leek soup, 5€) and the vegan salad caprese, with mozzarella and rucola (11,50€). Both were very …

Stuffed pumpkin with quinoa and beans

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As you can see in one of our previous posts, we have plenty of pumpkins from our garden. One of the varieties is “sweet dumpling“, and as the name suggest, it’s much sweeter than other pumpkins (like hokaidos or butternuts). The sweet dumpling pumpkins are also much smaller than the others (about the size of a very large orange) and ideal for stuffing. Fresh from the garden, you can also eat the peel of this squash. But these were already a bit older, so we didn’t eat the peel. This recipe was inspiration of the moment. Homemade in The Bruges Vegan’s kitchen! Stuffed sweet dumpling squash with quinoa and beans, served with baked mushrooms and sweet potato (vegan) Ingredients serves 2 persons 2 to 3 tablespoons peanut oil about 125g mushrooms (half of a small tray) 3 medium sized sweet potatoes (bataat) 2 sweet dumplings 1 can (400g) beans – eg red beans, borlotti, … 1 cup red quinoa 1 clove garlic, grated 1/4 teaspoon cumin 1/4 teaspoon coriander 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped …

Shop SHAVT, Leuven (Simply Healthy And Vegan Things)

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Shop review #8 – SHAVT is a new vegan shop in Leuven. SHAVT is the acronym for “Simply Healthy And Vegan Things“. It’s located in the city center of Leuven/Louvain, and opened in 2014. Leuven is a university city near Brussels (30km) and about 130 km from Bruges. UPDATE 2017: see below! The Loving Hut (vegan restaurant part of a worldwide chain) is just across the street and newly open vegan sandwich bar Vegaverso is just around the corner (see our blog). Being so close to one another, these 3 places are easy to combine on a visit to Leuven. I think SHAVT is currently only one of three all vegan shops in Belgium (the others being Vedge in Ghent and Veggieshop in Ostend, see our review). Not taking into account some grocery shops who only sell fruits and vegetables that is. It’s a small shop (not supermarket style), but has a large variety of vegan items nonetheless: from ice cream to body and care products, chocolate to cleaning products. Owner Kobe has made quite a name for himself with his homemade vegan cheeses! And we were very eager to …

shop Biovita, Sint-Kruis, Bruges

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Shop review #6 – Biovita is an organic shop, just outside the city center of Bruges. They actually have two shops, one in Sint-Kruis (Maalsesteenweg) and one in Sint-Andries (Torhoutsesteenweg). They plan to open a third shop at the end of October 2014 in Roeselare (41km from Bruges). This blog is about the shop in Sint-Kruis (Maalsesteenweg). It is the smaller one of the two in Bruges, but as it is the closest one for me, I mostly go to this one. To give you an idea about how far it is from the city center, it is 1,9km (a large mile) from the Kruispoortbrug at the Eastern side of Bruges, which would probably be a 25 minute walk. It is on a busy road, with many shops from larger chains (supermarkets, clothing shops, media shops). There’s easy parking in front of the shop. Biovita in Bruges is not a vegan shop, but sells many vegan products which you won’t find so easily in ‘regular’ shops. To give you and idea: special cereals, sweeteners (agave, maple syrup, rice syrup, etc), nutrionial yeast, …