Local 44 is my JAM, people. It’s the coolest, hippest, raddest neighborhood pub in West Philly. Although it can be overrun with hipsters and Penn kids (I can make fun because I was once both), it has interesting craft beer options (not that I drink it), a challenging and awesome Quizzo night (which I rock), and most importantly amazing vegan food options.
The menu has changed over the years. I remember a Frito Chili Pie and a good veggie burger. However, I’m solidly behind the latest offerings. Hot damn, they are good!

My friend and I started with 2 of the 3 vegan appetizer options, because that’s how we roll. First, the Spicy Seitan Nuggets, of which you get 5 decent-sized pieces of amazingness. I don’t know how they got the buffalo wing sauce down so perfectly, but they did. It was orangey-red and tangy and spicy like a mother. I was impressed by the actual nuggets too, far from the sponge that seitan can often produce. They were actually quite sturdy and hard to cut, but you’re probably just supposed to bite them like wings. I loved the satisfying bite the texture provided, and the mild ranch dip accompanying them. Definitely a must!

Next, we got the Fried Brussels Sprouts. You might have seen in past posts how much I love Brussels Sprouts, especially when doused in oil and nearly burnt. This is the best way to eat them. These sprouts were cooked really well and melted in your mouth, as fried things should. However, ask for the soy-chili sauce to come on the side. It made the sprouts way too tart and salty, and then the bottom layer got really soggy and even more tart. Sadface.
The third app, which we didn’t order, is popcorn doused in nooch. You can’t go wrong eating at a place that knows nooch+popcorn=love.

Bars are dark!

Brussels

Reuben!

The weirdest thing about the menu? None of the salads are vegan! And 3 of the burgers are! Up is down, left is right. But let’s focus on the good part: 3 burgers! You can choose from the ALT (avocado, lettuce, and fried green tomato), the black bean burger (which is great), and what I’m sure you will order, the Pastrami Spiced Seitan Reuben. I know!
Obviously, my friend and I both ordered the Reubens, because when you have the chance to eat a vegan Reuben, you take that chance by the horns and you eat it.
Oh my goodness, this was a good Reuben. The seitan was sliced so thinly, and the cooks stuffed as much as they possibly could between those slices of bread. It was extremely salty – I think I drank 4 glasses of water just during this course – but that’s how pastrami is supposed to be! I’m glad I asked for the side salad instead of the fries (you can do so for no extra charge!) because I put all those leaves in the sandwich, helping alleviate the saltiness and providing a different cooling texture.

Do you see how much meat is in there? It can’t be contained! So much!

This was one of my favorite Reubens, though I wish it came with a bit more Thousand Island dressing and cabbage to counteract the shittonne of meat in there. Because there really is a shittonne! Can you believe all of that? So awesome.
Local 44 definitely has vegan bar food down. You can’t go wrong with any of the current vegan options. And I’m really looking forward to having brunch here – the vegan brunch option is scrambled tofu with homefries and mushroom scrapple. What!

Another great thing about Local 44? It’s a short drive from Little Baby’s Ice Cream Parlor! Little Baby’s is a small-batch ice cream purveyor, and it always has at least 4 non-dairy options. They are uniformly delicious, for hard scoop ice cream (you know how I feel about soft-serve). Also, all of their cookies, for ice cream cookie sandwiches, are vegan! After this dinner, I had a scoop of Smoked Cinnamon ice cream. Pretty darn great.

LOCAL 44

Water speed: Great! I was drinking insanely fast, due to how salty the food is, and I never got impatient.
Bathrooms: Surprisingly clean for a bar, though you’ll set off the hand dryer probably 4x.
Service: Good and friendly. It gets crowded, and busy.
Food: Great vegan bar options, but beware if you have high blood pressure.
Bonus: If you’re a beer drinker, you will freaking love this place. They have a bottle shop next door so you can buy your favorite specialty beers. Also, Quizzo!

That Time When I Made a “Sneaky Bean” Dessert & It Wasn’t Gross

August 27, 2013

beany beany bean bean beans

I’m sure you’ve seen tons of those recipes online in which possibly well-meaning people claim that they made the BEST EVER cookies with a can of white beans (they are so healthy and fat-free and sugar-free!), or amazing JUST LIKE THE REAL THING brownies made with a can of black beans (they are so healthy and sugar-free AND flourless AND tasteless!).
I’ve tried all of them. They were always disgusting. I’m sorry, but they were. Disgusting. Is there anything more upsetting than expectations of a delicious brownie dashed? Than having no dessert but some kind of bean patty that tastes more like hummus than brownie? No, I don’t think there is.

Is there anything more upsetting than expectations of a delicious brownie dashed?

With that in mind, you can understand how upset I was when my mom, as excited as a puppy with peanut butter, came to me and exclaimed, “I found this recipe for cookies online that uses chickpeas! Let’s make them today!” I tried to tell her that it was a bad idea. That it was always a bad idea. I knew from experience, I argued. But she wouldn’t accept it; we simply had to try.
Faced with my most-feared culinary nightmare, I decided not to be a victim anymore. We were going to make chickpea-filled cookies, and by god they were going to be FANTASTIC. And guess what? They were. I attribute this to throwing out all the recipes I’ve ever seen for these monstrosities, and instead learning from my experiences and accounting for the usual problems.

THE USUAL PROBLEMS WITH SNEAKY BEAN RECIPES:

PROBLEMS:

Beany (disgusting) texture

Bland taste

Expectations of something good

SOLUTIONS!

Add lots and lots of peanut butter (and speculoos!)
Add lots of sweetness (in the form of agave) and chocolate chips!)
Expect these to be disgusting anyway! You can only be pleasantly surprised this way.

Told you they were gorgeous, didn’t I!! Oh wait no, no I didn’t.

Sneaky Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 can chickpeas, rinsed very well
2t vanilla extract
¼ C almond milk
½ C peanut butter
¼ C speculoos
1/3 C agave nectar
1t baking powder
pinch salt
½ C flour
½ C chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Puree the chickpeas and almond milk in a blender. (The Magic Bullet is perfect for this.) Add the vanilla, peanut butter, speculoos, and agave. You may need to add more milk if it gets too thick.
Mix the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, then add the blender contents. Mix well. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and drop the batter onto it in cookie-sized balls. Bake for about 12 minutes. Let cool before trying to see if you finally made a beany cookie that isn’t disgusting.

I hope this works for you like it worked for me!