What Not To Miss At VegExpo

I had lunch last week with my pal Chef Pola Schacter, a natural food distributor, at Lunch Club on Arbutus (great spot btw) and she brought me a couple items that will be available at the Veg Expo today and I wanted to be sure you didn’t miss them if you’re going, and that they’re on your radar when you next go grocery shopping.

First up Qrunch Foods! I’m neither gluten-free nor vegetarian, but I love some of the alternative burgers out there and this one was a great addition to the salad I took to work this week. I just microwaved it and threw it on top and it had a nice crunchy texture due to the millet, and there was lots of flavour in the patty too. It doesn’t stick together very well, which may have been due to the way I cooked it, so keep that in mind. It’s made from quinoa (hence the Q in QRUNCH), millet, and organic vegetables and I’ll definitely be picking up a few of these on my next shop.

They also do breakfast toastables made with the same grains as the burgers – millet and quinoa, which are sweetened with organic cane sugar, and can be a great alternative to waffles, pancakes, or french toast for those who want a gluten-free alternative.

Heading straight to dessert now with Sorbatto, a dessert made with organic blueberries farmed by a fourth generation farming family in Yakima, Washington with the addition of cane sugar and thickened by our friend, the chia seed. We could sell you on the fact they are full of healthy phytonutrients called polyphenols including anthocyanin which gives blueberries their beautiful color and that they are full or vitamin C, manganese and fiber, but we’d prefer you just taste this delicious frozen treat and decide for yourself. Serious dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan goodness here for everyone.

Everyone loves a good cheesie, but that bright orange colour and the suspicious list of ingredients including malted corn husk, fine white flour, sugar, maltodextrine, salt, maltose,corn oil, red dye #5, yellow dye #5, BHA and BHT are definitely not that healthy kids! Enter Vegan Rob’s, puffs made from whole grain flour, nutritional and veggies! I really liked the cauliflower version, but they’re all tasty.

Vegan Rob’s also does a Kombucha Bar, packed with probiotics, made with quinoa, nuts, seeds, nut flour, tea, coconut and live bacillus that made a great snack at work this week!

Wanna spice it up this summer? Secret Aardvark habenero hot sauce is pretty damn hot and spicy and made a great addition to our marinade this week! They also do a Jamaican marinate, and a black bean sauce that we’re looking forward to sampling. Check out their recipe for drunken chicken wings!

Our last product sample this week was another spicy one, Fire Brew, an apple cider vinegar-based health tonic.  It’s made with raw, organic vinegar that is steeped for 4-6 weeks in an abundance of nutrient-dense vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices. I like to add a little of this to my morning ritual which a glass of cold water with a splash of locally-made Route 18 shrubs.

If you’re off to the Veg Show, the booth # for VegExpo are:

Qrunch #611
Firebrew #609 Sorbatto #613
VeganRobs #607
Secretary ark #606