Girl Drinks and Stray Cats

I'm back from Aruba with some sweet delicious Veganmofo action for everyone who accidentally stumbles onto this blog searching for a Michael Phelps puff piece. That's right! It's the Vegan Month of Food and blog 'scuse me? has plenty of treats planned this month in the way of vegan food and our feverish attempts to destroy pop culture.

My trip started out with a hunt for some soy milk for my morning coffee. I was tempted to use coconut milk, but I found soy milk at a local convenient store. The restaurants in Aruba are generally vegetarian friendly and most places are willing to alter menu items to veganize them. La Trattoria El Faro Blanco and Sawasdee Thai Restaurant both had vegan friendly items on their menus. The Thai place also had an excellent mock duck that you could add to any dish. At Papiamento Restaurant, they had a separate vegetarian specials menu. Texas de Brazil, a churrascaria where guys walk around with huge sword-like skewers of meat, oddly enough had a good vegan selection at their salad bar. The guy that kept the salad bar stocked gladly followed me around telling what was in everything. I had an insanely good tabbouleh here and this superb penne pasta with grilled portobello mushrooms and tomatoes.

I went to this juice bar on the beach where I got a watermelon, mango, and orange juice that was super delicious. Perusing their menu, they also had this drink there called a banana nog with milk, banana, and peanut butter. They unfortunately used cow's milk, but I plan to make my own as soon as I get some ripe bananas.


Curry and Coco - Papiamento Restaurant

This dish was curried vegetables with coconut milk. If you look at the upper right corner of the plate you will see these orange-yellow fruits with tomatillo-like husks. They are my new favorite food and I'm not 100% sure what they are exactly. The waiter at Papiamento told us they were tomatillos. The waiter at Wacky Wahoo's told us they were physalis, which happens to be the same genus of the tomatillo plant. All I know for sure is that it's a delicious fruit they import from Brazil. Wikipedia cleared it up a little. We all know that Wikipedia never lies.


Veggies on the Stone - Papiamento Restaurant

Assorted vegetables served on a sizzling hot stone with an herb-infused olive oil for dipping.


Mixed Vegetables in Peanut Sauce - Sawasdee Thai Restaurant

I also got a vegetarian satay here made with their mock duck. However I scarfed it down before I could take a picture.


Broccoli with Tofu and Cashew Nuts - Sawasdee Thai Restaurant


Seasonal House Salad - Wacky Wahoo's

They made a special pasta with veggies for me here since there was nothing vegan on the menu.


Insalata Ortolana - La Trattoria El Faro Blanco


Linguini Primavera - La Trattoria El Faro Blanco

The pasta was cooked to perfection and had eggplant, zucchini, squash, and red peppers.


Cat watching me eat my pasta - La Trattoria El Faro Blanco

In addition to the adorable cats wondering the outdoor terrace, there was an amazing view of the island from this restaurant.

Random Note: I saw quite a few stray cats and dogs on the island from time to time. I was told they currently have a neuter and spaying program in place for strays. (Information about animal protection in Aruba.)


French Fries - A Taste of Belgium

Not much for vegans on their menu, but they had good fries.


Espresso - A Taste of Belgium


Bruschetta - Salt and Pepper

Mostly tapas here. They had a veggie burger made with eggs and pasta that was also made with eggs.