On-the-go Breakfast Burritos

New Leaf Tofu Breakfast Burrito

Tofu scramble is one of my favorite weekend breakfast foods.  And, oh, okay, I admit, we’ve even made it for dinner.

Sweet Earth Natural Foods has a Roasted Red Pepper Breakfast Burrito that’s sold at natural food stores here in the SF Bay Area (maybe beyond, but I wouldn’t know that for sure).  Made with potatoes, tofu and seitan, it was one of my favorite choices for a grab-and-go vegan food item.

My current favorite choice is the Half Moon Bay New Leaf’s Tofu Breakfast Burrito.  It’s a hearty tofu scramble with kale, potatoes, and tomatoes wrapped in a wheat-based tortilla.  They’re delicious eaten cold, or served heated.  They freeze and re-heat well, too.  And, it’s only $3.99, for 8 oz.  It’s made in-house at New Leaf, and sold with their packaged foods in the deli area.    Hint - because they’re made by hand, sometimes you can find them larger than 8 oz ( if you get there before me!).  I usually have a few in the freezer at all times.

Eating Vegan in Half Moon Bay

Heirloom Tomatoes

The best place for eating vegan in Half Moon Bay or the surrounding mid-Peninsula coastside is New Leaf Community Market. This large natural foods store carries a wonderful selection of fresh, organic produce and other necessary staples to create your own vegan delights, as well as ready-made vegan foods in their freezer cases to foods prepared fresh and sold in their deli.

In fact, we’re at New Leaf Community Market nearly every week.  Over the past several months, our average cost ranges between $25 – $50 for each bag of groceries.  If we’re buying primarily unprocessed or whole foods like fresh produce, bulk grains, beans, canned tomatoes, tempeh, etc., that’s closer to $25/bag while while adding in more processed vegan food choices, like Uncle Eddie’s peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, Black China Bakery mocha cake or cupcakes, Mudslinger’s Tarmac ice cream or the fresh-baked Whole Wholesome pies, tend to pile on the cost and the caloric content.

For ready-to-eat foods, New Leaf has a salad bar, hot foods area, and deli case that include vegan and vegetarian selections priced by the pound.  In the enclosed deli case, typically half the foods are vegetarian and vegan. Today’s vegan choices include Millet Yam Patty, Coastal Kale Salad, Harvest Salad with Organic Greens, Edamame Succotash, Tempeh Noodle Salad, Red Cabbage Salad with Pineapple Coconut Vinaigrette.  There’s also 4 hot soups made daily, and there’s usually 1 or 2 that are vegan, although occasionally there have been 3 that are vegan or none at all.  A refrigerated section includes other premade foods that you’d expect to see (wraps, Indian food, falafel, raw choices, etc).

$6 Vegan Dinner, New Leaf, Half Moon Bay

Last month, I picked out 3 items to go from the New Leaf deli for my Sunday dinner — Coastal Kale  Salad ($7.99/lb), Harvest Salad with Organic Greens ($6.99/lb), and the Millet Yam Patty ($4.99/lb).  The seemingly misnamed Harvest Salad was a rice-based salad with tofu, red cabbage, carrots, and braised greens.  Made primarily with organic ingredients, no tax, and no tip necessary, the whopping grand total was $6.

Surprisingly, I really liked the kale salad.  I’m not usually a fan of raw foods, but this primarily kale leaf salad made with pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds as well as sunflower greens and red onion seasoned with Bragg’s Amino Acids, lemon juice and olive oil was yummy.  So much, in fact, we’ve been looking for this salad on our last several trips to New Leaf.  We discovered it nearly always sells out by early afternoon, so New Leaf was the first stop on this  weekends trip to Half Moon Bay.