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Soy Leaf (San Diego, CA)

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After finding success slinging organic smoothies from a train car in Flinn Springs (at the east end of El Cajon), Soy Leaf opened a second location on Magnolia Ave. Filling the menu with pulled jackfruit and house made Italian seitan, Melanie Arce brings quality vegan food to east county.

I jumped instantly to the ever popular BBQ Jackfruit Burger. Tender chunks of saucy pulled jackfruit tempered with crunchy slaw on a soft wheat bun. While I would have preferred more heat less sweet, I totally get why this is the top selling item on the menu.

Carly of VeganinSanDiego.com ordered the Hickory Black Bean Burger. A house-made patty of quinoa and black beans glistening with a Dijon glaze and served on a bun with lettuce, tomato and mayo. She loved it!

The burgers come will a small side of coconut oil and sea salt scented kale chips. There is a small dining room (with art by some on Soy Leaf’s young fans) although there seemed to be ample take out service as well. As we sat there eating a few people wondered in, looked at the menu, then walked out.

“That happens like once a day,” explained Melanie. “This use to be a BBQ joint and not everyone realizes it has changed hands.”

Their loss, our gain.

Soy Leaf
Juice Bar & Healthy Grill
330 Magnolia Ave El Cajon, CA
SoyLeaf.com

Instagram: @soyleafcafe
Facebook: Soy Leaf

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Learning New Tricks With Vegan Cuts

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I’ve had the good fortunate of joining a vegan food swap earlier this year; but then the group took a two month hiatus. At that same moment, Vegan Cuts stepped in with this bounty. What arrived was a shockingly tiny box brimming with sample and full sized items… each and everyone new to me.

I had herd about Vegan Cuts previously, but never looked too far into it. I had assumed it was geared toward people in less vegan bountiful parts of the country. Living in Los Angeles I thought I had been exposed to all the best vegan snack items; but this little box put me in my place.

The immediate favorite was the Cinnamon Crunch nuggets by Somersault Snack Co. Crispy bite sized balls of wheat and sunflower seeds from a brand carried at the supermarket 50 feet from my office. I now have a hug bag of these on my desk… and to think, I would have never known about them without Vegan Cuts.

Other items included the by Snikiddy, the sample taste of Coromega Be Bright Superfood Oil, awesome vegan Watermelon Gummies by Surf Sweets, a huge bag of Ziggy Marley Salt & Pepper Roasted Hemp Seeds, Chic-a-Peas Falafel Roasted Chickpea (huge hit a party), Smooze Pink Guava Coconut Ice Pops and samples of pur-Absorb Iron supplement.

I was so impressed with every item. This box is very much worth the $20.00 price tag; plus it comes with free shipping. Vegan Cuts is a winner!