On January 25, Tortilla Press in Collingswood hosted a vegan night. It's not their first and I definitely hope it's not their last! They cultivated a fully vegan menu, including 3 appetizers, 6 entrees and 2 desserts. If you take a look at their regular dinner menu, it's not vegan friendly (although, I do believe that it's been updated since the menu on their website), but don't let that fool you - they make some awesome vegan food! I went with my brother and Megan from Tempted Tastebuds and we ordered almost the entire menu. We did it for you guys. I swear. It wasn't for us. ;) Though, the waitress did get a kick out of me saying, "we're going to order the whole menu." However, then we voted an appetizer and an entree off, so it wasn't the entire menu. I think we could have done it, though.
For starters, we got the Fried Artichoke Scallops and the Nacho Tostada. They had a Curried Carrot Soup, but we skipped out on that one. Our favorite of the two was the Nacho Tostada, which had nacho cheese, black beans, lettuce and tomatoes. It was so simple, but all the flavors were fresh and delicious. Their black beans don't have a ton of flavor, but they are just really good. I don't know how to explain it. Don't get me wrong, the fried artichoke crowns with that chipotle aioli were also awesome (and actually did remind us a little bit of scallops), but we played favorites a lot during this meal and the nacho tostada won the appetizer round.
For the entrees, we ordered Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos, Spicy Peanut Tacos, Oyster Mushroom Tacos, Carnitas Burrito and Chipotle Cream Penne Pasta. We voted the Classic Red Lentil Burrito off the list for this one. Conveniently, the taco entrees came with 3, so we each were able to try all of them. The Spicy Peanut Tacos definitely had a cool flavor and I think if they were flautas or something, I would have been so into them, but as much as I did like them, I'm glad I only had one of them. The Oyster Mushroom Tacos I knew I would like because I am completely in love with mushrooms. The flavor and texture on this one were really good. There was jicama and green cabbage mixture on top with a cherry habanero vinaigrette (it didn't come through spicy, but there was a lot of awesome flavor there), so the crunch with the mushroom texture was perfect! The Carnitas Burrito seemed small, but it was PACKED with some filling food! The jackfruit they used for the carnitas was really tasty, then they added black beans and red chili salsa. I believe there was some quinoa in there, though it's not listed on the description. It was then smothered in their nacho cheese and chipotle cream and topped with a little bit of pico de gallo.
Onto our favorite entrees... the Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos and the Chipotle Cream Penne Pasta. Right off the bat, we knew we were going to love the Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos, but we didn't realize how much we really would. They were amazing! It was just crispy cauliflower with buffalo sauce, a blue cheese dressing and lettuce, but dammit, they were great! I was trying to figure out what I was going to bring home for my husband, since he couldn't make it and seriously, one bite of those tacos and I knew that was it. I would have eaten so many more of those tacos, I can't even tell you. We also didn't expect to like the pasta as much as we did. I rarely order pasta when I'm out because it's an easy thing to make at home and I have a lot of fun making different sauces, etc. This was penne with tomatoes and green peas in a chipotle coconut cream sauce. It was just as amazing as it sounds, trust me. I definitely want to try to recreate this dish at home! It was the perfect creamy consistency and was really satisfying. If you don't like coconut, I don't know that you would have been into that, though. You definitely could taste the coconut, but I am a big fan of coconut, so I was all in on that. I've been told they plan on doing a vegan night more often, so I can't wait to see what the next menu looks like! Keep an eye on this place because I have a feeling it's going to become a vegan favorite!