Early Thanksgiving in Miami for Veggie Lovers

Vicequeenkitchen's Thanksgiving came one week early. This year's second annual Seed Conscious Plant-Based Food and Wine Festival left me full and wanting more. If you go nuts over nibbles like cacao almonds, eat carrots like Bugs Bunny or snack on arugula like candy, join me as I recall my favorite moments.

Thanksgiving noms for me. I could eat a delicious veggie burger every day.

Leave it to me to attend a food festival one week before Thanksgiving. And in 2015 -- about a year since I stopped eating anything with fur or feathers -- the only turkey I'm going to like is the one who earns the presidential pardon.

If Thanksgiving is about expressing gratitude, then I had no problem nourishing my body with a cornucopia of vegetarian goodness just before the holiday; in less than a year of consciously enjoying a plant-based diet, I lost nearly 80 pounds. And for this, I’m very grateful!

The festival, which humbly planted a seed last year under a single tent in Midtown, sprouted and grew into a multi-day series of events, featuring a first-ever Veggie Burger Battle, which I attended, along with a day-long fair at Mana Wynwood.

So, dear readers, since I'm the kind of crazy foodie who can spend ten minutes describing the taste of one of those sweet tango apples that are in season right now – I actually did this the other day – I’ll offer you a sampler platter of #vicequeenkitchen favorites instead to whet your appetite.

VEGGIE BURGER BATTLE

The chic but casual evening outdoors at the Eden Roc made for a vibrant affair. There were so many restaurants vying for top plant-based burger, I couldn't even try them all as I had to pace myself. If you had ever wanted to take a crash course in becoming a veggie burger connoisseur, this was it.

Guests had a chance to vote for their favorites in a people's choice competition. A panel of judges cast their votes as well. The panel included an old blog buddy who turned his love of burgers into a little empire: the Miami legend himself, Burger Beast!

At first, I sought the burger that tasted most like an original all-beef patty. But all of the culinary interpretations were so good, it was hard to choose.

Chef Daudi MClean of 2 Good Veggie Kitchen, based in Los Angeles, put on quite a show while he grilled up my favorite with vegan bacon.

And here's why Chef MClean's was a #vicequeenkitchen winner: caramelized onion, melted vegan cheddar,  a perfect texture to the burger and crispy, warm bread. Plus, my tummy could feel the secret ingredient: just love and joy. Who am I kidding? All the burgers had the secret ingredient.

The people's choice winner: Green Bar and Kitchen from Fort Lauderdale.  I also loved the crunchy and spice pickled green beans. At first, I thought they were cornichons. I asked them to hurry up and open a second restaurant in Miami. Their pumpkin soup is something else.

No puede ser! Miami's Pincho Factory wowed the Cuban in me with its black bean burger sandwiched inside a perfectly crispy tostón (fried plantain). Mi gente, a tostón is something so easy, but not everyone gets it right. They did.

Chef Todd Erickson of Haven Kitchen + Lounge won the judge's choice. I didn't get to try it, but now I've got a good excuse to pay a visit to this chic South Beach establishment.

More photos on Flickr.

FESTIVAL DAY

I thought two hours was enough to cover this event. Boy, was I wrong. Dozens of vendors featured not only food but also health, wellness, books and even gardening booths. Guests speakers took to two different stages. Next year, I'm making a day of it.

Not only did the festival celebrate South Florida's farm to table movement, it also highlighted entrepreneurs on the vanguard of Miami's healthy cuisine options. I met several mom-and-pop entrepreneurs who've made the leap from "I'm cooking this at home because I can't find it anywhere else," to "now I'm selling this at Whole Foods." Eating local by locals never tasted so good. Eating local by locals who use local ingredients? Even better.

I'm sure every single person manning a booth in the cavernous space of Mana Wynwood worked very hard. But when I asked for a smile -- if it wasn't already there -- I got one. And that's the feeling I walked away with: people are just happier when they eat consciously.

The first dish and smile of many food rounds: chef Assia Dahrouch of Miami's Lemoni Café with a light and fresh quinoa tabouli.

I just love these guys, who are based out of Broward. Heck, even if you eat meat, you'll still love their meat-free sausages and dairy-free cheeses, which are serious morsels of yummy. I can't wait for Whole Foods or Fresh Market to start stocking up on Atlas Meat Free deli products.

What's nicer than a London expat making you a Bombay Sapphire and tonic? Bespoke tonic made from scratch with heavenly botanical elixirs made of bergamot, fennel and more. I didn't see any wine at the festival, but this libation was perfectly refreshing. Put Gary Hayward on my list of favorite traveling bartenders.

I first tried Miami-based Chef Christy's raw sweet treats at a friend's vegan potluck. Mark my words: you won't miss anything cooked when you stick one of these addictive, mouth-watering bites in your mouth. Put them on your shopping list.

Mr. Green Dean of the vegetable farm in Homestead. I wasn't kidding about snacking on arugula. Another festival guest and I were sampling the locally grown greens like kids at a candy store, including the sorrel. Fancy that: greens that actually taste like something. Put it on my plate! I've actually ordered from their weekly offerings. Folks, there is absolutely nothing better for your kitchen than calling up a farmer and asking: "What've you got this week?"

More photos on Flickr.

MIAMI: IT'S NOT JUST CONDOS

My friend and food blogger extraordinaire Stephanie Quilao of @farmtofabulous, who covers many food-related topics including the San Francisco healthy eats and green living scene, told me over the phone that she'd wish the bay area had a similar festival. "How's that possible?" I asked. "Isn't California the mecca for healthy eating?"

My theory: maybe it's because healthy eating has become so second nature over on the west coast that a festival isn't even necessary to raise awareness about plant-based living. But maybe it also means that Miami's doing right by its fruits and veggies, too.

#vicequeenkitchen

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DISCLOSURE I attended the festival events on a press pass. All opinions my own, as always.

Miami Plants A Seed for Healthy Eats

Wake up, taste buds! You won't need a rod and reel for this zesty Mushroom Ceviche from  plant-based Temple Kitchen in South Miami.

Last week, a seed was planted in Miami that will hopefully grow into a big tree, spread roots all over town and yield abundant fruit.

The first annual Seed Conscious Plant-Based Food and Wine Festival celebrated all things vegetarian, vegan and organic through a variety of activities, including a dinner hosted by health advocate Alicia Silverstone (you might remember her as the blond from the film Clueless) and a day-long festival in Midtown.

Since I've recently embraced a plant-based diet -- I hesitate to even call it a diet since it's by no means restrictive -- I ventured out to Saturday's festival not quite sure what to expect. The last time I attended the South Beach Food and Wine Festival, or as I like to call it -- the people-watching orgy -- I felt jaded and unsatisfied.

Not so with this gang of plant lovers.

Seed's one-tent wonder was full of enthusiastic folk with contagious energy. Smiles beamed. No 86 on happiness at this unpretentious event. Many of Seed's vendors were local mom-and-pop business owners who manned their own booths and offered samples of fine product.

And by product, I don't just mean food. If you are what you eat, then natural beauty was definitely on the menu here. My friend was drooling at the site of so much eye candy. I almost wiped his chin with a napkin. Oh wait, that was soursop gelato ... never mind.

Two of the ladies who run Lunchology, a Miami-based gourmet food delivery service. When you eat clean on the inside, you look great on the outside.

To be fair, I couldn't get my hands off this hot guy's vegan "pop," either. Who can resist that smile? Filippo from Eccolo Pops brings Italian ice and gelato tradition to his shop in Downtown Miami.

But back to the drinks and grub.

To my surprise, there were more businesses advocating healthy eats in Miami-Dade and Broward than I imagined -- a great discovery in a town with agricultural roots. Before urban development pushed plows down to Homestead, South Beach was a fruit plantation. Allapatah was farmland.

The festival's tent was only deceptively small. I thought I'd be there for two hours. I ended up staying five and still didn't try everything. I missed the wine, talks and cooking demos.

What I did thoroughly enjoy were some delicious bites that made me want more. That's right: a culinary tongue tease. For the bed, leave something to the imagination. For the table, leave something for the appetite.

And voila:

Spaghetti squash, lentils and curry from Lunchology. All food made fresh daily.

The brand name tells it like it is: Pure Brazilian Coconut Water. It's raw with a brief shelf-life. I'll never drink carton or canned coconut water again.

Live in a condo? No excuses. Grow herbs in these stylish wine boxes.  How? Contact Urban Gro in Wynwood.

Basil Park had run out of utensils, which was just as well. This marinated mushroom, water chestnut and cilantro iceberg lettuce cup with homemade sriracha was finger lickin' good.

Marcel had me at his exuberant hello. Or maybe the biceps. Definitely the flavor of Badass vegan artisanal cookies, made with spirulina and chock full of bounce-off-the-wall energy. Created by Badass Vegan founder John Lewis.

I've always wanted a monk in the trunk.

Fruit and Spice Park showed off their exotic specimens. Pay them a visit to see the amazing variety of plants grown in South Florida.

Fennel-icious faux meat Italian sausage and dairy free mozzarella from small-batch delicatessen Atlas based in Hollywood.

Worth a drive to Fort Lauderdale: Green Bar Kitchen's Walnut Taco (served in an orange bell pepper) and spicy Coconut Soup.

The line was long to sample Beyond Meat. I'll have to buy some at Whole Foods.

South Florida-based OnJuice makes cold-pressed juices for cleanses that also work well as cocktail mixers or refreshing alternatives to soda. Ginger freaks, try the Lemon Aid.

KIND bars was giving away pay-it-forward flowers.

Seed confirmed for me what I've lived in the flesh the last two months: cooking up a riot of vegetarian alternatives in my kitchen, eating well and abundantly yet shedding pounds. I always loved fruits and vegetables. Now I know they're loving me.

And that's a seed I'd like to see grow not just for me but for the rest of the community.

Seed was presented by Whole Foods. For a complete list of vendors who participated, click here.

Healthy Eats in South Miami

Living in a region of Florida with high restaurant turnover rates, I often hesitate to recommend great spots for fear of walking up to the CLOSED sign on the door.

Meals of yore, as if from another lifetime in a far away land, come to mind. Restaurants the names of which I can no longer recall. But I do remember the succulent, sage, ricotta, nutmeg raviolis slathered in a wine butter sauce on Lincoln Road. Sometimes when I sniff a sprig of rosemary, I'm transported to that tender osso bucco, braised in red wine, on Washington Avenue.

Further inland, the former Kafa Café -- Miami's then only remaining Ethiopian restaurant -- served delicious, home-cooked style fare, but eventually disappeared from its Midtown location. I miss dipping injera bread into those aromatic and spicy sauces.

I hope that such a fate doesn't befall Temple Kitchen, a neighborhood vegan and vegetarian friendly in the heart of South Miami, an area of Miami-Dade that offers many choices -- from Cuban to French to Portuguese and East Indian -- all in a few squares miles. Temple is Sunset Drive's newest addition. Prior to Temple's opening, only Whole Foods offered similar fare.

Even a carnivore would enjoy the flavor combinations at this plant-based eatery, which bears the slogan "joy to the food."

Joy to the tastebuds would be more appropriate.

Yesterday, I tried the Q & A salad and one of Temple's signature house waters (mint, ginger, lemon). The salad was pure heaven: the namesake quinoa and arugula, with roasted beets, mint, cherry tomatoes, almonds, parsley all served with a beet coulis dressing.

It was pretty too; you could almost call it an altarpiece.

Just out of curiosity, I asked for a sample of the Cream of Broccoli soup. In my younger years, when I poured over classic French cookbooks, the idea of creamy and thick -- without a buttery roux -- would have seem impossible, not to mention preposterous.

I'm not sure if any of the other patrons heard me, but I moaned a little when I took one sip of this simple and silky soup: broccoli, coconut milk and vegetable stock. Creamy indeed but supple on the tongue.

I'm not particularly religious, but I do plan on worshipping at this temple regularly. No penance or kneeling required.