The Most Beau-tiful Foods of the Year

It’s time I did a roundup of some of my favorite shots (and dishes!) from the last six months at Vital Foods.

Vital Foods is the plant-based cafe/grocery store/produce distributor I co-owned through 2015.

Without question my favorite part of the job was photographing chef Rosa Zamora’s food. Okay, twist my arm: My favorite part was eating. From panini on Bosque Baking Company sourdough (baked next-door) with cashew cheese to a Chick’n Caesar wrap with Romaine, soy curls, croutons, & house-made Caesar dressing, every day was vegan gourmet.

In fact, eating at Vital Foods was probably the best argument I’ve ever heard for going vegan.

I’ve been a vegetarian 20 years this month. Often misunderstood about vegetarians: There are many different kinds. And I’ve been most of them. Though I never ate chicken or fish, I wasn’t the least way put off by a CostCo-sized tub of hummus for dinner, or, you know, Halloween candy to fill a front porch. It wasn’t until I started working at our local co-op, and buying organic with a critical discount, it dawned on me what you eat affects how you feel.

So here’s the thing: the grub at Vital Foods was delicious, filling, and nutritious. In an act of heresy, my cravings for Dog House chile-cheese tater-tots started to wane. When I returned to my favorite New Mexican restaurants, I found everything tasted, well, flat. And so I returned to VF every morning, and ate yesterday’s creamy green chile potato soup, or . Even the ginger lemon carrots were amazing.

And more than that, I felt better. I slept better. I had all kinds of energy for all kinds of tasks, from biking around town to building my own photo backgrounds. Truly, this food has been a gift.

So, by way of saying goodbye, here are my favorite Vital Foods’ foods from 2015. I’ll miss working with you all, and wish you the best 2016 possible.

Want to see more? Check out the Vital Foods Instagram.