) So he’s been doing some GFCF research online (he’s the best!!) and today he suggested a new place for lunch: Ethos Vegan Kitchen.
I was a little hesitant at first… I’ve never been much of a fan of the earthy-crunchy food that I think of when I think “vegan.” (I must say that while I’m not normally a huge carnavore, I’ve been eating more than my share of meat since going GFCF, what with so many other things taken out of my daily food rotation.) But since Vegan means no animal products of any kind, that takes out half of the GFCF equation: the casein can’t be present because there can be no dairy of any kind in anything they prepare. And since they make much of their Vegan fare available Gluten Free, there are many GFCF options on the menu. Score!
So we went for lunch today and were pleasantly surprised with the wide variety of Gluten Free Menu options. We ordered two GF meals to share: the Healthy Trio and the Hippie Wrap.
The Healthy Trio is a three dip “Light Bite” meal. It has black and green olive tapenade (which was a little too… “olivey” for me…. But I’m not a big fan of the super salty, strong taste of olives in general), a homemade hummus (which was thick and creamy and delicious!) and a tomato mango salsa (chunky, sweet and spicy – very tasty). It usually comes with three sides that include toasted bread, but it has an option to order Gluten Free. The very friendly, helpful server said that to make it GF you can substitute a double order of either of the other two dippers that come with it: tortilla chips and raw veggies (which are carrots and celery). But after inquiring what else you could possibly get, we came up with cucumber slices, which were cold, fresh and yummy dipped in the thick hummus. (I’m getting hungry again just writing about this…!)
The other meal we split was The Hippie Wrap: a brown rice wrap (which was large and while rather stiff, crispy almost, it was soft enough to enjoy and eat without falling apart, like a lot of rice wraps tend to) with more super yummy homemade hummus, beautifully red tomatoes, cucumber (which, with three slices for my half of the wrap, were too few for me. So I added more from our dippers tray), sprouts, lettuce and banana peppers (I’m not a big fan, so the server kindly suggested putting them on the side. My husband happily doused his half – he loves them!). It was a very hearty, delicious sandwich. I’m glad we shared – otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to finish it! Oh – and it came with a side dish too! Of the five sides, ALL of Ethos’ sides are GFCF!!! All five! We choose the fresh fruit of the day: watermelon. Cold, fresh, sweet and juicy.
We had a wonderful, healthy spread including really fresh fruit, veggies, dips, a huge wrap, and a root beer (for my husband… I don’t know that it was gluten free… so don’t try that until you check on it!) and water for me. All for a very reasonable price: $17!
So now I can’t wait to go back and try some more Ethos GFCF fare. I went from a hesitant “well, okay… I’ll go and give it a try…” to the now enthusiastic “hey! Let’s go back THERE!” They just have so many different GFCF dishes that we’ll have to sample: salads and soups and wraps and side dishes. You can check out the Ethos Vegan Kitchen menu here. (Note that not all menu items are GFCF… just the ones that have the “GF” blue symbol next to them.)
So, oh darn. I guess we’ll just have to have another lunch date next week. 😛 (I think I’m going to try the homemade black bean soup … or the Mashed Potatoes with Gravy… or maybe the Coconut Curry Wrap…. So many choices! I’ll keep you posted. But meantime, if you’re in the downtown Orlando area, give Ethos Vegan Kitchen a GFCF try!