More Great Food From Follow Your Heart

Posted by socalvegangal in Breakfast Options, San Fernando Valley, Veg Restaurant October 2, 2012

I try to eat at a lot of vegan-friendly places, but sometimes a girl just wants a good vegan breakfast! That is why I went again to Follow Your Heart in Canoga Park. I wish there were more vegan breakfast joints in LA and Orange County. But, then again, I do love Follow Your Heart.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t too in love with my breakfast choice. I got the Tofu Eggwich ($6.95): scrambled tofu patty, tomato, avocado, “pastrami” wheatmeat, and Vegenaise on an english muffin. You also get a choice of potatoes or fruit. As you can see, I went with the potatoes – so good! I don’t know what they did to them, but they were delicious. The tofu patty on the sandwich was not that delicious. I thought it was going to be a slab of marinated tofu, but this one was smushed up tofu with some kind of thickening/binding flour or starch and spices. I didn’t really like the flavor.

Tofu Eggwich

I wasn’t sure how big that tofu sandwich was going to be, so I got a side of Cornbread ($2.50). This sure was a hearty slice of cornbread. I’m a snob when it comes to cornbread – I like it fluffy and on the sweet side. Hearty cornbreads just don’t do it for me. They asked if I’d like honey with it, but since I don’t eat honey, I declined. It would have been better with some kind of sweetener – jam or agave/maple syrup, though.

Cornbread

My vegan guy didn’t care for breakfast foods and went straight to lunch. He got the Reuben ($10.75): thinly sliced wheatmeat, cheese, sauerkraut, mustard, and Vegenaise, on rye. I’d like to tell you how good or bad it was, but I actually don’t remember what he thought (and neither does he). Oops.

Reuben

To see more great stuff from Follow Your Heart, see my previous posts here and here.

Breakfast and More at Follow Your Heart

Posted by socalvegangal in Packaged Food, San Fernando Valley, Veg Restaurant August 1, 2012

I went to Follow Your Heart, because it’s one of the few places to get a vegan breakfast. I love this place, not only because of their varied menu, but also because they have a wonderful market with hard to find vegan products.

My breakfast meal was the cleverly titled Om Lette ($10.25): an omelette shaped tofu pancake with your choice of three fillings and cheese. I chose to have my omelette filled with mushrooms, spinach, and avocado. It also came with a side of hash browns and fruit. I loved this dish, although I thought it had a bit too much cheese. It’s nice to be able to get a vegan omelette, though. Real Food Daily used to have one at their Sunday brunch, but it is no longer on the menu (bummer).

Vegan Omelette with mushrooms, spinach, and avocado

I also shopped around the market and found some vegan goodies I haven’t bought before. I haven’t used the Tofutti Ricotta ($5.79) yet, but now you know where to get it. Since purchasing this Ricotta, though, I have heard it’s not that great. Have any of you tried it? Follow Your Heart now carries Upton’s Naturals ($4.89) for those of you looking to try some new seitan varieties. I used this to put into a beans and rice dish from the cookbook “Vegan Yum Yum” and it was delicious.

Goodies from Follow Your Heart Market

Amanda’s Bakery Cupcakes at Follow Your Heart

Amanda’s Bakery has their cupcakes here and you can get them in the refrigerated section in packs of four. I got the Maple Cupcake and Raspberry Chocolate Cupcake. Both were really good. And even though I don’t know how long they had been sitting there, they still tasted pretty fresh.

Maple Cupcake and Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake

Daniel’s Choice Mac and Cheese

And they have a new prepared Vegan Mac and Cheese from Daniel’s Choice. I thought this was very creamy and a good sized quantity. It did have this one flavor. It reminded me of when I was a child and I would eat the boxed mac and cheese at friends’ houses and sometimes they would add chopped hot dogs to it (something I did not enjoy). Even though I would pick the hot dogs out, it still had that hot dog taste. I’m guessing this smokey taste came from the roasted peppers listed in the ingredients. I’m weird, I know, and this is probably my personal little quirk, but that flavor just bothered the little child inside me. Otherwise, it was very tasty.

Daniel’s Choice Mac and Cheese

Follow Your Heart’s market has tons of other products on their shelves. There’s always something new to discover. If you haven’t been there yet, you’re missing out.

21825 Sherman Way
Canoga Park, CA 91303
818-348-3240

Daily 8 am – 9 pm

Vegan Pizza Day at Follow Your Heart

Posted by socalvegangal in Pizza, San Fernando Valley, Veg Restaurant July 7, 2012

If you’re a social media addict, chances are you heard about Vegan Pizza Day that happened on June 30th. Quarrygirl had a detailed map of all the places offering specials for this food holiday. Because I had already tried some of these amazing pizzas, I went with something new. Follow Your Heart was offering a special deep dish pizza for Vegan Pizza Day. I love Follow Your Heart mozzarella cheese on pizza when it’s done right (aka- melted).

The options included two different options, so my vegan guy and I got one of each. Our favorite was the Meat Lover’s Pizza. As you can see, there were tons of melty cheese covering different types of vegan meats. My only complaint about this pizza was actually the reason I came – the deep dish. I didn’t think it was like a pizza crust at all. To me, it was almost like a really thick piece of toast: too crispy for me. My vegan guy was a fan of the crispiness, though. To each his own, I guess.

Meat Lover’s Pizza

The Margherita Pizza was the same as the Meat Lover’s – only with less flavored toppings. It still had that crispy crust and melty cheese, but was more plain only topped with just some tomatoes and basil.

Margherita Pizza

And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed Vegan Pizza Day. And if you missed it, there’s always next year. But as always, most of these places have vegan pizza year-round (just without the special discounts). Make Everyday Vegan Pizza Day.

Follow Your Heart in Canoga Park

Posted by socalvegangal in San Fernando Valley, Veg Restaurant March 21, 2012

Follow Your Heart – the makers of the classic and delicious Vegenaise and vegan soy cheeses – has a wonderful vegetarian market and cafe in Canoga Park. It’s so nice to be able to have a fantastic meal and then find some vegan grocery items all in one trip. The menu at Follow Your Heart is huge, but apparently both my vegan guy and I were craving tacos on our last trip.

I got the Braised Tofu Soft Tacos ($11.50): corn tortillas served with braised tofu, cheese, tomato, lettuce, and cilantro. It comes with black beans, spanish rice, guacamole, sour cream, and salsa. You also have a choice of soup or salad with this meal. I got the soup (the picture didn’t turn out, sorry) which was tasty and came with a really delicious bread stick (reminiscent of Olive Garden’s amazing bread sticks). The tacos were huge! I couldn’t finish it all, but they were very tasty. The side of black beans and rice were kind of bland on their own, but nice together.

Braised Tofu Soft Tacos

Not being a huge fan of tofu or soft tortillas, my vegan guy opted for the Organic Tempeh Tacos ($9.50): corn tortilla shells filled with seasoned and grilled tempeh, cheese, tomatoes, and fresh cilantro. It was also served with black beans, spanish rice, guacamole, sour cream, and salsa. He enjoyed these tacos, except the shell wasn’t as crisp as he had hoped.

Organic Tempeh Tacos

We were so full that we couldn’t even take a bite of any dessert. They do have a large selection of vegan desserts – many I have tried and have enjoyed.

Follow Your Heart has a small parking lot next to it and is located at:
21825 Sherman Way
Canoga Park, CA 91303
818-348-3240

They are open daily from 8 am – 9 pm

Trip 2 to Hugo’s Restaurant

Posted by socalvegangal in Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, Veg Restaurant March 11, 2012

I took another trip to Hugo’s Restaurant in West Hollywood and again I couldn’t resist some of their monthly specials. Sadly for you, I went on the last weekend of the month and didn’t have a chance to post these amazing dishes in time. I do hope they add these to their regular menu. Both dishes I got were superb!

For an appetizer, I got their Grilled Polenta & Portabello Ragout ($7.75): grilled polenta topped with sautéed diced portabello mushrooms, artichoke hearts, broccolini, and sun dried tomato, in a cashew-cream marsala-tomato sauce and sprinkled with fresh chopped basil. I wish they bottled this sauce. Vegans don’t have a creamy red sauce readily available in grocery store and I think our time has come – Hugo’s, are you listening?! I loved this dish.

Polenta and Portobello Ragout

For my entree I ordered their special of Oyster Mushroom Tacos ($12.75): warm corn tortillas filled with breaded crispy fried oyster mushrooms and topped with shredded lettuce, jalapeno-marinated vegetables, fire-roasted-tomato salsa and cilantro. Served with chopped romaine salad and Caesar dressing. I already knew I’d love this dish, because I’ve been recently obsessed with oyster mushrooms. These mushrooms were perfectly seasoned and not too oily. The salad was also wonderful. I couldn’t think of anything I would change about this dish.

Oyster Mushroom Tacos

In case you missed it in my first post about Hugo’s, here are the details:

Hugo’s Restaurant West Hollywood
8401 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(323) 654-3993

Hugo’s Restaurant Studio City
12851 Riverside Dr
Studio City, CA 91607
(818) 761-8985

Monday – Friday
7:30am – 10pm
Saturday – Sunday
8am – 10pm

Hugo’s Restaurant in WeHo

Posted by socalvegangal in Los Angeles, Omnivorous Restaurant, San Fernando Valley, Veg Restaurant January 27, 2012

My favorite thing about Hugo’s Restaurant is the huge selection of vegan options. For an omnivorous restaurant, they certainly cater to vegans. Even a lot of their non-vegan menu items can be made vegan. Another great thing about Hugo’s is their monthly specials. This trip to Hugo’s was no exception.

I was in the mood for pancakes one sunny afternoon in December, but didn’t know where to go. I knew I wasn’t in the mood for any of the pancakes served at the infamous vegan thai places in LA and most other restaurants serving vegan breakfast foods weren’t cooking them this late in the day. Luckily Hugo’s serves breakfast items until 4pm. I ordered a December special: Orange Cranberry Pancakes. This consisted of three fluffy pancakes infused with almond, orange, ginger & cranberries and topped with toasted slivered almonds and organic powdered sugar. Also served with a chunky agave sweetened ginger-orange cranberry compote. I love how nice and thick Hugo’s can make their pancakes without leaving the center of the pancake mushy and uncooked. The pancakes were delicious and very filling. I wasn’t too thrilled with the compote, though. I’m a girl who loves her pancakes covered in maple syrup and I thought the agave in the compote clashed with the flavor of the maple syrup.

Orange Cranberry Pancakes – $11.50

My vegan guy (not into the sweet stuff) got a veggie burger. The Hugo’s veggie burger comes with onion, lettuce, tomato and Vegenaise. It is served with a choice of crispy fries, house made potato chips, house salad or caesar salad. You can also choose three additional toppings. My vegan guy opted for sauteed mushrooms, avocado, and ranch (on the side) and a side of fries. I had a bite and thought it was wonderful (especially to curb the sweetness of my pancakes). My vegan guy thought he’d had better veggie burgers on prior visits to Hugo’s. Maybe there was a new cook? The one thing we both agreed on was the ranch. We thought it was too runny. It barely stayed on the burger. It was definitely more of a dressing for a salad (if that) than a spread for a burger.

Veggie Burger with sauteed mushrooms, avocado, and ranch – $12.50

All in all, though, Hugo’s Restaurant is a must visit for those who don’t mind eating at an omnivorous restaurant. You can check out their monthly specials and recurring items on their menu (vegan and vegan-options are clearly marked). You can choose from their two locations: each with a small parking lot adjacent to the building.

Hugo’s Restaurant West Hollywood
8401 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(323) 654-3993

Hugo’s Restaurant Studio City
12851 Riverside Dr
Studio City, CA 91607
(818) 761-8985

Monday – Friday
^{7:30 AM to 10:00 PM}
Saturday – Sunday
^{8:00 AM to 10:00 PM}

So Cal Vegan Gal

Category Archives: San Fernando Valley