Larabar Review and Vegan 100

Larabars are rare creatures in Queensland. I usually get them by post from the Cruelty Free Shop. However, when I was at Mt Tambourine recently, I found them on the shelf in a pharmacy in the small restaurant and shop strip near the local library. They had Cinnamon Roll, Jocalat (chocolate, obviously) and Pecan Pie (eatan and not photographed). I was very pleased.

All three options were very pleasant. I have also tried key lime pie, which is my favourite. They are delicious little bars, packed full of the dried fruit and nuts which are really their only ingredients. The flavours are usually somewhat reminiscent of the named item. They are not sickly sweet, though their high fruit content means they are fairly sweet. The only down side is that they are pretty high in calories, which may be a concern for some people. If you see them and don't have any food allergies or calorie concerns, give them a go.

The wonderful Bazu of Where's the Revolution? has posted her version of the Vegan 100 on her blog. Basically, this is a list of foods that are worth a try. You show which you have tried by bolding items. I notice that a lot of this list is very US centric, with NY items or US versions of produce. Here is my version:

1) Copy this list into your blog or social networking site profile, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out or italicize any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment on this post linking to your results. The Vegan Hundred:

1. Molasses
2. Cactus/Nopales
3. Scrambled Tofu
4. Grilled Portobella Caps
5. Fresh Ground Horseradish
6. Sweet Potato Biscuits
7. Arepa
8. Vegan Coleslaw
9. Ginger Carrot Soup
10. Fiddlehead Ferns
11. Roasted Elephant Garlic
12. Umeboshi
13. Almond Butter Toast
14. Aloe Vera
15. H and H Bagel NYC
16. Slow Roasted Butternut Squash
17. White truffle (in oil form- does that count?)
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Freshly ground wasabi
20. Coconut Milk Ice Cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Orchard-fresh pressed apple cider
23. Organic California Mango (I think it is fair to substitute a local Qld version. There are mangos growing in our local parks, but I have also enjoyed local certified organic ones.)
24. Quinoa
25. Papaya Smoothie
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet or Habañero pepper (grow my own habanero chillis)
27. Goji Berry Tea
28. Fennel (Only vegetable of which I am not a fan)
29. Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie (made my own from Isa's recipe - too good!)
30. Radishes and Vegan Buttery Spread (not yet, but sounds good)
31. Starfruit
32. Oven fresh Sourdough bread
33. Sangria made with premium fruit and juices
34. Sauerkraut
35. Acai Smoothie
36. Blue Foot Mushrooms
37. Vegan Cupcake from Babycakes nyc (unlikely without serious travel)
38. Sweet Potatoes and Tempeh combo
39. Falafel
40. Spelt Crust Pizza
41. Salt and Pepper Oyster Mushrooms
42. Jicama Slaw
43. Pumpkin Edamame Ginger Dumplings
44. Hemp Milk
45. Rose Champagne
46. Fuyu
47. Raw Avocado-Coconut Soup
48. Tofu Pesto Sandwich
49. Apple-Lemon-Ginger-Cayenne fresh-pressed juice...with Extra Ginger
50. Grilled Seitan
51. Prickly pear (Once as a kid, these are considered weeds here)
52. Fresh Pressed Almond Milk
53. Concord Grapes off the vine
54. Ramps
55. Coconut Water fresh from a young coconut
56. Organic Arugula (Grow my own)
57. Vidalia Onion
58. Sampler of organic produce from Diamond Organics
59. Honeycrisp Apple (Not available here)
60. Poi
61. Vegan Campfire-toasted Smores (Smores are not an Aussie thing at all)
62. Grape seed Oil
63. Farm fresh-picked Peach
64. Freshly-made pita bread with freshly-made hummus
65. Chestnut Snack Packs
66. Fresh Guava
67. Mint Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
68. Raw Mallomar from One Lucky Duck, NYC
69. Fried plantains (For my Brisbane friends, you can get plantains at the West End markets in season. I fried my own)
70. Mache
71. Golden Beets
72. Barrel-Fresh Pickles
73. Liquid Smoke (Love it - get it from VVSQ!)
74. Meyer Lemon
75. Veggie Paella
76. Vegan Lasagna
77. Kombucha
78. Homemade Soy Milk (Too lazy)
79. Lapsang souchong (Yum!)
80. Lychee Bellini
81. Tempeh Bacon
82. Sprouted Grain Bread
83. Lemon Pepper Tempeh
84. Vanilla Bean
85. Watercress
86. Carrot you pulled out of the ground yourself (Must go and pull some from my garden this afternoon)
87. Vegan In-Season Fruit Pie
88. Flowers (Nasturtiums from my own garden are great, but have also tried lavender, chamomile, violets, and roses)
89. Corn Chowder
90. High Quality Vegan Raw Chocolate
91. Yellow fuzz-free Kiwi
92. White Flesh Grapefruit
93. Harissa
94. Coconut Oil
95. Jackfruit
96. Homemade Risotto
97. Spirulina
98. Seedless 'Pixie' Tangerine
99. Gourmet Sorbet, not store bought
100. Fresh Plucked English Peas

I bolded 63. That's not too bad. There would be more if I substituted Australian fruit varieties for the US versions. Please let me know if you fill this out. It would be cool to see what you highlight.