We're nearing the end of the alphabet and thus the end of Vegan MoFo. I can't believe how quickly September has flown by and how many delicious brunches/breakfasts I've eaten this month. Technically, today's letter should be "X", but truthfully, I came up blank. Although I did have thoughts of X Marks the < insert something clever > as a name for one of my dishes, I decided not to go there. Rather than stretch to use a descriptive x word, I thought I'd just skip right to Y instead and fit in a product review.
Today was Jacques' birthday, which brought us a weekend full of celebration, and not a whole lot of cooking. Yesterday we spent the day at the California Science Center to finally get a glimpse of the spaceship Endeavor in all its retired glory.
The day culminated at Santa Monica beach for Glow, "an all-night cultural experience featuring original commissions by artists that re-imagine Santa Monica Beach as a playground for thoughtful and participatory temporary artworks." This was our first time attending the event, and while some of the exhibits were interesting, there was nothing really mind blowing. We did have a fun time with friends however and a late night, which, of course, led to a later than usual morning.
For breakfast, I turned to the fridge for an Almond Dream yogurt; a product I have intended to review for a while and couldn't have found a more perfect time then now.
In my dairy eating days, I was never a big fan of yogurt because I always found the taste to linger in an unpleasant way upon my tongue. Back in the day, the only non-dairy yogurts sold at the grocery store were soy yogurt, and I never found those to be very pleasant either. Thankfully, these days, a multitude of options exist with several brands of soy yogurt, coconut yogurt, and more recently, almond.
Almond Dream has definitely won over my tastebuds. I pulled out some homemade granola along with the Vanilla flavored Almond Dream, which was a perfect compliment for a parfait. The yogurt is thick and creamy, with a deliciously smooth texture spoonful after spoonful. There is a perfect balance of sweet and tart which I found extremely palate pleasing. You could really taste the vanilla and the specks of vanilla bean really added that that "vanilla yum", as Jacques described it.
There is only one downside to Almond Dream and that is in its sugar content. While the ingredients are few, relatively clean, gluten free, soy free and non-GMO, it would be way cooler if the yogurt was fruit juice sweetened. There are other brands out there that are keeping it sugar free and perhaps Almond Dream will some day follow that lead. For now, it will just be an occasional treat.
To create my parfait, I spooned one third of my yogurt into the bottom of a glass, topped it with a couple tablespoons granola, and repeat. Berries are a great addition; you can choose to top the parfait with them like I did, or layer them into the parfait for more berry bite in every spoonful.
No comments:
Post a Comment