Brilliant Broccoli

The veggie movement is growing fast, with numerous innovative people making their mark, and I wanted to point out a few businesses in L.A. specializing in preparing and delivering vegan cuisine, as well as educating others.

One such creative person is Christy Morgan and her business called The Blissful Chef. They prepare vegan macrobiotic food for eco-friendly Los Angeles celebrities, and air cooking videos. In addition they hold vegan cooking classes and private consultations. Learn how to prepare  weekend brunches (crepes without egg or dairy are not something vegans find every day!) or tempeh, the healthy protein-rich soyfood. Meal delivery is another part of the Blissful Chef’s service.

Also in Southern California is an affordable weekly meal delivery service called Vegin’ Out and owned by two brothers. Each week they’ll deliver 9-10 meals to your home or office – if you live outside the greater L.A. region, they can ship next day. The food is about 75% organic. Doesn’t the Ziti Bolognese — using tofu instead of ground beef — sound amazing, with a White Bean Salad, followed by Orange Chocolate Chip cookies? Vegin’ Out also caters events.

There seems to be a trend in sibling-owned vegan businesses in L.A. Spork Foods, run by a couple of sisters, also offers catering, and gives cooking classes on gluten-free recipes, aphrodisiac cuisine, and homemade pizza, among others. I would probably drive from San Diego for The Grilled Portobello, Spinach, and Pine Nut Cheese Pizza on a Spelt Crust! With a focus on local, organic and seasonal foods, Spork also does food consultations, so if you are new to veggie food and need someone to help shop and replace your pantry with healthy goods like nutritional yeast, spelt flour, coconut water and such, call Spork Foods.

Salad Time

For L.A. restaurants serving vegetarian or vegan cuisine, a comprehensive listing can be found at the Vegetarians in Paradise site, along with information on L.A. vegetarian events and natural foods stores.

Photos by Jeremy Pearl.