late last week, i went to chicago with my mom for the day. we took the train down so we could check out the impressionism, fashion, and modernity exhibition at the chicago art institute, and my mom wanted to take a freakishly early train. as a night owl, i wanted to die even thinking about getting up that early, but i decided to let her have that one, and then use that leverage to get her to eat a vegan lunch. crafty!
i asked if she’d be willing to go to native foods (which is only a few blocks away from the art institute, and right on the way back to the train station), and she was super agreeable, so hooray for that. i had expected maybe a little pushback, but i always like pleasant surprises. the only hiccup was that they don’t have regular soda available at native foods, so she had to make do with lavender lemonade (YUM!).
anyhow, she had the chicken run ranch burger with a side of seasoned fries. i didn’t take a picture of her food because i didn’t want to put my Vegan Weirdness on blast, but i DID take a picture of my food:
these are the blackened baja tacos, which is basically their spin on “fish tacos” using tempeh. the tempeh is really great, the sauce is crazydelicious, and the cabbage, salsa, and guac are fresh and flavorful. i also wanted to give their lemon-dill potato salad a spin (i’d never tried it before), and i was really happy with that choice. perfect texture, lots of flavor. this was a really really great lunch. not pictured: amazing thirst-quenching lavender lemonade, always a favorite.
my mom really liked her lunch (although she thought there was too much–she couldn’t finish) and i was pretty happy about how well it all went. then i went home and slept for a year. (not really.) (but i wish.)
vegan chai 