I used to really love fishing.  Sometimes I even fantasized about the future when I would have both the time to fish and some grandkids to show how to wait patiently for a bite.

I also loved to eat seafood – tuna steaks and lobsters were my favorites. But after becoming vegetarian 20 years ago, I quit eating seafood. While occasionally I still miss eating fish, I really miss fishing.

Last week I went to the Seattle Aquarium with my two grandsons. I find aquariums fascinating, now loving fish for the fish themselves – the incredible variety, their stunning beauty, and their joy (I presume) to be alive. While I still feel sad that my fantasy of fishing with the grandkids isn’t going to happen, sharing the wonders of the life of the sea brought joy to all.

However, when lunchtime arrived, I found the cafeteria disquieting. While my opinions represent a minority perspective, it now seems odd that after showing us how wonderful sea creatures are and how our fishing practices are ruining their habitat, I am supposed to revel in the fact that certain fish are not yet endangered, so eat up!  At one time that perspective made perfect sense to me as well.

When we got home, I did a little research on sustainable fishing. The Monterey Aquarium has extensive consumer information as a guide. What I found was disconcerting.

For example, under Albacore Tuna (one of seven kinds of tuna the Monterey Aquarium discusses) their summary table advises:

• The best choice is U.S. Pacific or Canadian Pacific albacore tuna caught by troll or “pole and line.”
• Avoid all longline albacore caught anywhere in the world (except Hawaii). This is a problem because this method of fishing tends to catch older fish that have accumulated too much mercury.
• Avoid even “wild-caught” albacore in the North Atlantic.
• At a retail level canned white tuna is both a “best choice” and an “avoid.”
• All the other market names they give – Longfin Tunny, Shiro Maguro, and Tombo are also confusingly both a “best choice” and an “avoid.”

So (check it out!), all the market names are both the best and the worst!

The bottom line is that consumers wanting to learn about sustainable or healthier albacore tuna find information that is, at best, confusing. And if the world of tuna eaters all ate just the tuna from the U.S. or Canada Pacific, how long would that be sustainable? Does this seem nuts to anyone else?

If you want a truly sustainable tuna sandwich – try ours. There is no threat to the health or the population of Garbanzo Beans (the base of our “hold the Tuna”) – that we know of.

Bon appétit!

By Dr. Carl Myers

Oh black beans, how we love you!

You make our Rizo and Einstein burritos so tasty! You also provide us with high fiber, high protein, minerals, antioxidants, B vitamin, all while staying low in fat.

Black beans are super tasty and super healthy, especially when made from scratch.

If you don’t have a pressure cooker, making black beans from scratch can be a bit daunting. It seems like they either come out to be  mushy or not cooked evenly, all of the way through.

Our head kitchen guy, Joel came up with a fail proof way to cook black beans so that they come out to be the perfect texture. Not mushy, and not hard.

Here’s is the method:

Do not soak beans.

Place beans in a pot and add water enough to cover the beans by two inches.  For every 8 cups of water, add 1/4 cup of olive oil to the pot.

Add whatever seasonings you fancy, along with 2 Tablespoons of salt.

When beans reach a boil, add enough water so that the beans are covered by two inches again.

Turn the heat down to low and simmer for two hours.

That’s it!

Like most people, we always thought that adding salt to beans at the beginning of cooking would screw them up but this recipe comes out perfect every time!

Try them out and tell us what you think!

Here’s a post for all of you vegan foodies out there!

Below is a list of all of  the vegan restaurants in the Bay Area.

If there’s a restaurant that I missed, email me molly@natures-express.com and I will add it to the list!

How many have you been to out of 36 below?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Alive

Organic/ raw

San Francisco

Their website says that the restaurant is closed until June 2011 and are currently only doing catering.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Cafe Gratitude

Raw

San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Cupertino, San Rafael, Healdsburg, Los Angeles

What are you grateful for?

Whether it’s for their food, or for the fact that not every restaurant gets up in your face about what you are happy for, only to have a weird sense of awkwardness come over. Your brain, only moments ago,working fine, is now grasping to find something, anything to say to the cool waitress that stands in front of you with a smile who is quietly, and very patiently waiting for you to speak. When your mouth opens and you finally say “I’m thankful for my health” You suddenly feel disappointed that after your brain freeze you came up with something so generic.

At the end of the day though, a lot of people are grateful this place. They continue to grow and spread their words of gratitude throughout California.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Central Vegetarian Cuisine

Asian

Alameda, CA

This is a lot like the rest of the Asian veg places out there. A lot of faux meat, noodle, and rice dishes. Have you noticed that all of the Asian Veg places have crazy- good chocolate cake? Not sure if this place offers it but this is definitely a trend that we’ve noticed.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Cha-Ya

Japanese

San Francisco, Berkeley

Oh Cha-Ya, for all of your quirks, people will always go back to you - It’s like the people who always fall for $%#holes, continually being treated with inconsistency but always go back for more.

The dull customer service, the cash only policy (but only at lunch, a credit card is fine at dinner), the quiet awkwardness that happens when the restaurant isn’t packed, the solemn looks that dart at you from behind the sushi bar……Oh Cha-Ya, why does your Agedashi tofu have to be so good???? And don’t get us started about your Udon…

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Cinnaholic

Cinnamon Rolls

Berkeley

Cinnamon rolls + Vegan = what more can we say?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Donut Farm

Vegan Donuts

Oakland

This place has no website or even phone number to speak of but, looking at their Yelp page we can gather that they make vegan donuts,they have brunch, and thy’re open Friday – Sunday.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Enjoy Vegetarian Restaurant

Asian

San Francisco (two locations)

This place may not have the best name but 4.5 stars with 287 reviews isn’t too shabby.

Also, don’t let the name fool you, Enjoy Vegetarian is vegan. If it’s Asian and they say they’re vegetarian, it’s likely that they are actually vegan, just be sure to ask about eggs.

For anyone who is trying to go vegan and is having a hankering for chicken nuggets – this is the place to go. Their nuggets are so close to the real thing that it’s actually scary.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Fat Bottom Bakery

Vegan Cupcakes

Oakland

If nothing else but for the name, we  have mad love for Fat Bottom. The fact that they have killer cupcakes makes it all that much easier.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Flacos

Mexican

Berkeley

This place started out as a food tent at the Berkeley Farmers market and has since expanded into a restaurant located on Adeline Street in Berkeley, conveniently located across the street from the Ashby Bart. Their taquitos and tamales are well worth a visit.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Garden Fresh

Asian

Mountain View, Palo Alto

Their (very large) menu is mostly comprised of Faux meat dishes- perfect for those carnivores in your life!

If for no other reason, you have to love a place with an item on their menu called  ”Happy Family”.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Golden Buddha

Asian

San Francisco

You may not see this place if you blink when passing. It’s a bit of a whole in the wall but sometimes those are the best places! Any vegan restaurant with a dish called “Crumbed shrimp Sensation” is worth a shot.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Golden Era

Asian

San Francisco

Like a lot of other Asian veg places, whatever is lacking in the interior design department, it made up for  in the food department. Golden Era is no exception.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Golden Lotus

Asian

Oakland

I’m sensing a pattern here….Asian? Yes, Vegan? Yes, Name starts with the word Golden? Yes…

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Good Karma

Mix

San Jose

One yelper described the decor of this place as ” Granola-meets-Haight”.

We’re sensing that Good Karma is quite the mixed bag.

You can order Chili Verde to pork bun and scrambled tofu, along with a variety of cold beers on tap.

As a side note, one yelper claims that there is whey in their “chicken” drumsticks so look out for that if you’re vegan.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Gracias Madre

Mexican

San Francisco

This place makes being vegan cool. On a Friday night you will find hipsters of all ages waiting to get a table – vegans and non-vegans alike. People who probably have no clue that it’s a vegan joint at all.

They market themselves as being organic, local, Non-GMO,and sustainable.

Gracias Madre  was started by part of the cafe gratitude team so it makes sense that they get their produce from the Be Love Farm in Vacaville, created to supply produce to their restaurants.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Great Vegi Land

Asian

Sunnyvale

If you don’t eat meat, are sick of Indian vegetarian food and happen to be in Sunnyvale, by all means Great Vegi Land will do and if you’re vegan then this restaurant is a bonus!

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Green Papaya

Thai

Berkeley

It’s nice to have a Thai restaurant that doesn’t rely on fish sauce for its flavor.

Wait – hold that thought, we just got word that Green Papaya might use curry paste with shrimp in it….I guess you can disregard the above comment about fish…

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Hella Vegan Eats

Tamales

Catering deliveries. and events

They don’t have a restaurant but you can catch them at farmers markets here and there. When you see them be sure to try their hella yummy tamales.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Herbivore

Mix of cuisines

San Francisco, Berkeley

People have mixed feelings about this place but then again, vegans are known to be picky at times.

Whatever your feelings are toward Herbivore, you are lying if you say that their blueberry corn cakes aren’t freakin’ awesome.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Local Love

Catering

Local Love offers catering, cooking classes, and menu planning to boot.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Loving Hut

Asian

Available in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, USA, Austria, Czech, France, Mongolia, Panama, Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Russia, Brazil, Poland, Norway, Slovenia, Belgium, Hungary.

Supreme Master Ching Hai is doing something right.

Is it sort of creepy and cult like? Perhaps.

Has loving Hut managed to open hudreds of restaurants world wide, offering up vegan food from Brazil to Mongolia? Yes.

Ching Hai is the spiritual master behind loving hut and has influence in a lot of  other Asian Veg restaurants.

Her domain for her website is godsdirectcontact.com

Two things we can gather here :

1) She’s modest.

2) She’s a PR genius.

=)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Lucky Creations

Aisan

San Francisco

Any place that has vegan Taro fish on the menu is in our good books!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Merit vegan Restaurant

Asian

Sunnyvale

Give it up for vegan food in Sunnyvale!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Millennium

American

San Francisco

Vegan food goes posh!

At millennium you will find beautiful people, beautiful food, and fancy drinks, all wrapped into urban street smart decor.

The food melts in your mouth with  the kind of flavor and texture that  makes it hard to eat only because you never want it to end.

If you haven’t tried it yet, you should treat yourself – it is well worth it.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Nature’s Express

American

North Berkeley

We might be bias but we think we rock.

We make everything in house from our ketchup to our mayo. Our food is fresh and appeals to a wide range of people; both meat eaters and vegans alike.

Plus, the owner is a retired Oncologist, making it just what the Dr. ordered, literally.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

No Worries – Filipino Vegan

Filipino Food

Oakland

Instead of using meat for this predominantly meat based cuisine, owner and chef, Jay-Ar Isagani Pugao uses an array of substitutes, ranging from soy protein to wheat gluten to tofu and seitan.

No Worries started out as a high school business proposal in 1998 and received a grant to develop the business.

They’ve come a long way baby!

As a side note, they recently started doing brunch on Sundays!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Pepples Donuts

Donuts

Throughout the Bay Area in different stores

We will use the same formula as we did for cinnaholic:

Cinnamon rolls Donuts + Vegan = what more can we say?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Raw Daddy Foods

Raw

Farmers Markets throughout the Bay Area

Raw Daddy offers different combinations of food, all presented in flaxseed waffle cones.

It’s one of those “you have to be there and try it” moments.

Try it for yourself — you won’t be disappointed.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Scream Sorbet

Sorbet

Oakland

Creamy, delicious, vegan sorbet….

With flavors like pistachio, macadamia vanilla, and cashew caramel, you can’t really go wrong.

Their ice cream sandwiches are not vegan the last time we checked – fyi.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Shangri-La Vegan

Macrobiotic

Oakland

The only way to describe this place is like being in your mamma’s womb.

Not only is the food nourishing and filled with wonderful, delicate flavor, the energy in the restaurant itself  is healing and calming. If you eat here when you are having a bad day, we are convinced that after your meal you will be rejuvenated and feel inspired.

This is one of the most underrated vegan restaurant in the Bay Area.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Shangri-La Vegetarian

Chinese

San Francisco

Unlike a lot of the other Asian veg restaurants in the Bay Area, this one is very specifically Chinese focused.

If nothing else, one should go merely to see what the XIAN MAO STEW VEGGIE MEAT is all about, or the WOLFBERRY LYCEUM. You got us wonderin’…

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Souley Vegan

Soul Food

Oakland

From the collard greens, to the Mac and Cheese, this place is yummy, and fun to eat at. The atmosphere is cool, and it is right next to an awesome beer garden.

They also have a brunch every Sunday that shines down from the vegan gods.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Source

San Francisco

A mix of everything, from Pizza, to Dosas, and Soba noodles to raw entrees.

Their menu is not 100% vegan. We were hesitant to put them on our big vegan list because they do use dairy cheese on their pizzas. … however, 100% of their menu can be made vegan so we thought we should do a shout out.

Besides, any restaurant that offers vegan Truffle Macaroni & Cheese deserves some praise!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Symphonie

A little of everything, from Thai to Mexican

Point Richmond

Vegan food in Point Richmond? Who knew!

The building has a haunted feeling to it but the food is solid and the owner is a sweet heart.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Vegetarian House

Asian

San Jose

At first glance you might think that this was like all of the other Asian veg restaurants who give ode and praise to Supreme Master Ching Hai. That is, until you see things on there menu like Avocado BLT, Raw Fettuccine, and Quinoa Sushi..Huh? where did that come from??

They also serve the usual, Kung Pao Tofu, spring rolls, and an array of soy protein, and tofu dishes.

One thing is for sure, Vegetarian House gets an A for creativity with their offerings!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Vegi Food

Asian

North Berkeley

Again, Asian veg restaurants aren’t known for their decor, and this place is no exception.

However, if you go to a restaurant for the food, then who gives a crap about decor?

The food here is good, inexpensive, and vegan.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Researched and written by Molly Patrick

Thank you for contributing a guest blog Mary Rose – you rock!

Mary Rose is part of our NE Berkeley crew. We’re so lucky to have her – she brings a warmth to the workplace that could not be replicated.

xo

Good Morning Friends,

I have had the luck of stumbling on something here in Berkeley that is doggone dirty, fun and really makes me smile!  And c’mon, who doesn’t like a little dirty fun now and then?

I have been volunteering for the last two weeks at Spiral Gardens, a food security project. I am a huge fan of fresh food with lots of veges and flavor. The minute I tasted my first vege-burger at NE I was hooked.  Interview over.  I knew Natures Express and me were meant to be together.

The thing is I also don’t want to be the only one who gets to experience the feeling of cells and fibers in my body becoming more alive after eating nutrition packed food!  Everyone deserves this awesome feeling!

Some kids in my environmental justice class at SFSU did a presentation on Food Deserts and it really hit home.  Why is good food out of reach for so many?  I was inspired to get involved. The incredible thing is that going local, acting out, reaching out and speaking up is as easy as going down to the garden and getting dirty!  I found Spiral Gardens in Berkeley on Oregon and Sacramento St.  It is non-profit organization working hard to even out the effects of the “free market” that come at such a high cost to many low-income and minority segments of our country.

Spiral Gardens grows organic produce for donations and food pantries alone.  Sales at their plant nursery help the organization continue to serve the community.  Welcome to food justice people!

One other thing worth pointing out to the many fans is localization.  For every $100 you spend at non-chain stores in your town, $45 of it stays in the community creating jobs.  For every $100 you spend at corporate chain stores only $13 stays in your town.

You are helping your community 3 TIMES more when you buy at locally run, independently owned stores.  Pretty impressive huh?

Love you all!

Mary Rose

One of our regulars, Chris dropped off this awesome piece of art that he made for us a couple of weeks ago.

We asked him to give us more info about the piece – it turns out that he’s working on a really cool project and we were one of many businesses that he made a piece for!

Chris talks about his project below.

My reason for this piece, as well as many other pieces of art that I’m creating is that I am documenting my life through my art.
I am taking inspiration from places that I work, shop, and eat and I am making each one of them an art piece or several art pieces to thank them for impacting the way I live in a positive way.

Each Art piece is different in that I use recycled materials from the place I am making each piece for.

For example, I eat at Nature’s Express 2-3 times a week. I collected all of  the to go bags that my food came in and I painted some of the bags and left some the bags the way they were. I then cut them up and put them together as a mosaic.

So far I have made over 9 pieces for different businesses.

Chris received his BFA in Photography from Suny New Paltz in 2009. He currently lived in Emmeryville, CA.

Chris – we think that you’re awesome - keep up roockin’ mosaics!

Anyone ever wanted to try out the vegan diet? Today is day 1 of The Vegan-Kick start!

Based on research by Neal Barnard, M.D., one of America’s leading health advocates, this program is designed for anyone who wants to explore and experience the health benefits of a vegan diet. Low-fat vegan—plant-based—diets are the easiest way to trim excess weight, prevent diabetes, cut cholesterol, lower blood pressure, prevent and reverse heart disease, and reduce cancer risk. They even trim our carbon footprint. Read More Here.

We were stoked to see a piece on Jonathan Mann on CNN!!

Jonathan Mann writes a song a day and posts them on youtube – he’s been doing this January 2009 – now that’s dedication.  If you haven’t seen any of his stuff, wait no longer – he will make you laugh.

Jonathan (yeah, we’re on first name basis!)  has eaten at Nature’s Express in Berkeley several times;  he even did a song for us! Check out the video – it makes us smile and we think it will make you smile too!

I’m going through a phase of being obsessed with food writing.

I know that I should be spending my reading time on finishing  In-N-Out Burger -A behind the counter look at the fast Food chain That Breaks All the Rules. I can’t do it.  It has been sitting at my desk collecting dust while I have been indulging in yummy food writing – I can’t get enough. I am currently reading Spoon Fed by Kim Severson.

While i’m not overly excited about the author’s tone, I do love the subject matter of food and how so many lessons are learned in the kitchen around people who we love (I have found this true for myself anyway). At the end of each chapter, Severson includes a recipe that fits into the context of that chapter.  I recently finished the chapter that had a great deal to do with Edna Lewis, who is known as an authority on Southern Cuisine. Miss Lewis has been referred to as “The south’s answer to Julia Child” . I was so psyched at the end of the chapter to see Ms. Lewis’ corn bread recipe! I have been craving corn bread lately and I had all of the ingredients to throw together a vegan version of the recipe.

I was so so happy with the results! It is super moist and has a wonderful flavor  - This will be my forever go to recipe for corn bread!

Here is the original recipe along with the vegan substitutions:

1 1/2 cups fine corn meal

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 3/4 cup buttermilk ( use 1 3/4 cup plain almond milk, 2 tsp. lemon juice and 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar in replace to replace the buttermilk)

2 eggs ( use 3 tsp. Ener-G egg replacer and 4 Tablespoons of water to replace the eggs)

2 Tablespoons butter (use 2 Tablespoons earth balance buttery spread to replace the butter)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl

Combine the almond milk, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar in a separate bowl

Place the water and the egg replacer in a blender and blend until thoroughly  mixed and foamy

Add this mixture to the wet ingredients and mix to incorporate

Place the butter into a 10 inch cast iron skillet and place in the preheated oven for 30 seconds or until the butter is melted

Take the skillet out of the oven and swish around the butter so that it coats the whole pan, including the sides

Take the remaining butter and pour it into the wet mixture

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and  mix until just combined ( do not over mix ) Note* the mixture will be thin like soup – I was worried about this and almost added more flour. I decided to leave it alone and was glad that I did.

Place batter  into the skillet and pop in the oven

Bake for 30-40 minutes

The top should be golden brown and the edges should slightly pull away from the sides of the skillet

I had this with a big side of collard greens to complete the Southern theme…

Happy eating!

Molly (Chief customer officer at NE and food enthusiast)

There are many awesome events in the San Francisco Bay Area that take place in honor of Earth Day. Be sure to mark this event on your calendar and check it out!  The first annual Berkeley Vegan Earth Day focus specifically on the positive effects of veganism on the environment. Come celebrate Vegan Earth Day with us on Friday April 22nd at 7pm on the UC Berkeley Campus, 112 Wurster Hall.

To find out more about Vegan Earth Day 2011, click here

To find out more about the environmental benefits of a veganism, check out Earthsave.org

See you there!