When people first hear I’m vegan, they usually ask some questions: why are you vegan?  Where do you get your protein?  How do you survive without ice cream?  This last question is hardest to answer because I do have a deep and personal love for ice cream, and vegan ice cream has had a history of being a pretty disappointing substitute for the real thing.  Recently, however, a number of brands have released vegan ice cream that is actually really good, and may even fool some dairy-lovers.  The newest vegan ice cream release was from the infamously rich and delicious Ben & Jerry’s brand, and I can tell you: they did not disappoint.  With that in mind, here are my top picks for the best vegan ice cream brands on the market.

5. So Delicious Dairy Free Soymilk

This brand of ice cream has been on the market for quite a while now, and when you’re in desperate need of a late night ice cream fix, it’ll hit the spot.  These ice creams probably won’t wow any new vegans or “regular” ice cream lovers, however, but some of their flavors are worth a try (I like Turtle Trails and Peanut Butter Zig Zag).

4. Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss

This brand (which you’ll mostly find at health food stores like Whole Foods, although it is available in some supermarket chains) is pretty dang delicious.  There are a number of fun and delicious flavors, with my favorite being Mint Galactica.  The texture is a bit lacking though, as it can be a bit icy, and the coconut-y undertones may not be your cup of tea.  Still, this is one vegan ice cream brand I will be happy to enjoy any day.

3. So Delicious Dairy Free Cashewmilk

This line of ice creams, which was recently released by the previously mentioned So Delicious brand, is super tasty with an amazing, creamy texture.  The choice to use cashew milk as a non-dairy base is a definite step up from soy milk, as cashew milk is creamier and has less of a noticeable taste.  Sadly, this line of ice creams doesn’t have many flavors to choose from, but the Snickerdoodle and Cappuccino flavors are the perfect sweet treat.

2. Steve’s Ice Cream

Steve’s Ice Cream is a fairly small, Brooklyn-based, artisan ice cream brand that serves up some of the best vegan ice cream out there.  They have a substantial number of delicious and somewhat fancy flavors to choose from, with my favorites being Burnt Sugar Vanilla and Cinnamon Coffee.  This ice cream brand is impossibly creamy (with a base of coconut cream), and the flavors are so unique and daring, you won’t even notice you’re eating non-dairy ice cream.

1. Ben & Jerry’s Non-Dairy

Boy oh boy is this ice cream good.  Ben & Jerry’s is a brand probably best known for their emphasis on organic ingredients and their wacky, over-the-top delicious ice cream flavor combinations.  Before going vegan, Ben & Jerry’s was my ice cream brand of choice, so it was a huge bummer to have to miss out on their delicious ice creams.  I knew that it was only a matter of time before they would offer something up for their non-dairy lovers out there, however, and they have not disappointed.  Although they are only currently offering 4 non-dairy flavors, I have faith they will expand the line given the incredibly hype and stellar reviews.  I’ve gotten to taste 3 of the 4 non-dairy flavors, and my favorite has to be P.B. & Cookies.  This flavor is rich but not overly sweet, with the perfect amount of peanut butter, and crazy delicious cookie chunks.  These flavors are a bit hard to find at the moment, but Ben & Jerry’s has assured non-dairy fans that the flavors will be rolling out into stores throughout the coming weeks.  I urge you to run to the nearest store offering these non-dairy flavors and snatch them up; I can guarantee you’ll love them, and your dairy-loving friends will enjoy them too.

I’m really excited to share the latest installment in the Food on Film series with you all:  The Jean-Luc Godard Cooking Show!  The first Jean-Luc Godard film I saw was “Une Femme est Une Femme”, and I fell in love with his unique style and captivating characters.  With this video, I hope to pay a small homage to his iconic films!

I would like to mention that although I studied French for several years in middle school, it’s been quite a while since I’ve had to flex my French-speaking muscles, so I apologize for any incorrect grammar or pronunciation!  At the end of the day, I am mostly hoping to capture the feel of his classic black-and-white films from the 60’s.  I hope you all enjoy!

If you’ve never tried bubble tea, you probably aren’t living your best possible life.  Bubble tea is a Taiwanese tea drink that has recently become popular in the U.S., with some shops even opening up that deal exclusively in this entirely unique drink.  The drink itself is tea-based (although there are tons of different variations and recipes out there) and the “bubbles” are actually small, black tapioca pearls (also known as boba).  Drinking bubble tea is definitely a strange experience, and you’ll probably either love it or hate it: the boba is tasteless, although sometimes sweet from being soaked in honey or sugar, and chewy.  In my opinion, bubble tea is fun, refreshing, and a perfect sweet treat, but it’s hard for me to find good bubble tea (especially bubble tea that can be made dairy-free) near me, so I did some research and concocted 2 dairy-free bubble tea recipes that are super easy and fun to try at home.  Here’s how to make them:

The Boba

For enough boba for 2 drinks, you will need:

1/3 cup black tapioca pearls (these can be purchased online or at an Asian market)
3 1/3 cup water
A small bowl of agave or honey
A bowl of cold water

Your bag of black tapioca pearls should have instructions on them for how to cook the pearls, but my method is: bring the 3 1/3 cups of water to a hard simmer and add the pearls.  Cover the pot and cook for about 6 minutes.  Remove the lid, lower the heat a bit to a soft simmer, and cook for another 6 or 7 minutes (test a pearl every now and then until they’re as soft as you want them).  Drain the pearls and add them to the cool water.  Let sit for about a minute and then drain the pearls and throw them into the bowl of agave/honey to soak while you make the rest of your drink.

Taro Bubble Tea

For 2 servings:

1/3 cup taro powder (can be ordered online; try and read the ingredients to make sure it doesn’t include any milk products!)
1/2 cup crushed ice
1 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of non-dairy milk (I accidentally used water – although it still tasted delicious – but I find cashew milk to be the creamiest non-dairy milk)

Simply blend all of the ingredients together and serve with the boba!

Creamy Avocado Bubble Tea

For 2 servings:

1 banana
1 ripe avocado
Agave or honey (eyeball how much you want and add more to taste – you shouldn’t need more than a tablespoon)
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (again, I prefer cashew milk)
1/2 cup crushed ice

Scoop the avocado into your blender and add the banana, broken up into pieces.  Add the rest of your ingredients, blend, and serve with boba!

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Giant straws are not necessary to enjoy your homemade bubble tea treats, but they are definitely recommended (you can order them online!).  Give these recipes a try and decide if you’re ready to join the dark side and become a bubble tea fan.

Deciding to go vegan, even for a week, can be quite the challenge, so I came up with 5 tips for how to make it happen:

Happy Halloween everyone!  In celebration, I am pleased to share The Stanley Kubrick Cooking Show with you all.  To be honest, this video was quite a challenge to film: The Shining is such a remarkable film that I wanted to accurately capture the horror of the story and Kubrick’s iconic style.  Hopefully I succeeded to some extent!

Again, my friends (and frequent collaborators) Shannon and Hannah deserve a huge thank you.  They were immensely helpful and talented both in front of and behind the camera.

I hope you all enjoy this video and have a wonderfully spooky Halloween!

I’m incredibly excited to share The Wes Anderson Cooking Show with you all!  I am a huge fan of Anderson’s iconic, quirky style and it was so much fun to recreate.  I couldn’t have imagined a better way to launch the Food on Film series.

My friends Shannon and Hannah deserve a huge thank you, they were so helpful in making this video and I couldn’t have done it without them.  I hope you all enjoy this video, stay tuned for more!
Lizzie