As much as I love dining at Fresh restaurant, trying new-to-me vegan restaurants is one of my favourite things to do, especially if it is close by.
Enter The Naked Sprout – Burlington’s (mostly) organic, raw & cooked, vegan, and gluten-free restaurant. It’s a 15 minute drive from me, making it the closest vegan restaurant in my area. My friend Heather took me here for my birthday a few weeks ago and I was excited to try it out after listening to her (and many of you) rave about it. Heather and I met through my Glo Bars a couple years ago. She was a regular customer and visitor to my stand at the Farmer’s Market in Oakville. We stayed in touch through email and when I moved to Oakville (where she also lives) I suggested we meet up. It’s been a lovely friendship ever since.
Here’s what intrigues me about The Naked Sprout: they offer raw and cooked vegan meals, reflecting how the owners eat in their everyday lives. I enjoy raw food quite a bit, but I also love my cooked food and was happy to see this flexibility on their menu. Oddly enough, my first two meals here were raw. I guess I can thank the summer heat for dictating what I crave!
Some raw menu items include:
- kelp noodle salad
- zucchini pasta
- pizza
- rawsangna
Some cooked menu items include:
- BBQ burger
- soba noodle bowl
- protein power bowl
- pesto allergro
For an appetizer, we shared the Skinny Dip Platter made up of parsnip hemp thyme bread sticks, lemon dill pate, creamy garlic hummus, spiced olives, sun dried tomato tapenade. It was excellent and so flavourful. I need to figure out how to make those raw bread sticks stat.
For my main, I ordered the Big Green Earth Salad.
Inside this huge bowl: Mixed greens, massaged kale, lemon dill pate, red kidney beans, carrots,
tomatoes, shredded beets, avocado, tempeh. I got it without tempeh because I’m not a fan. The salad was great…filling and delicious!
The restaurant is quite spacious and they take reservations (bonus!), so I figured it would be a fun spot for a get together. I emailed the running group (the one I started to organize prior to my knee injury) to see if anyone wanted to join me and about 10 of us made it out. I was excited….and scared all at the same time! I always get extremely anxious before these types of things, but as always, I had a great time and everyone was super friendly. When will my anxiety ever learn?
A group shot: Natalie, Julie, Jennifer, Char, Ange, Vanessa, Rachel, Daniela, and Chelsea.
I started with the Green Scene juice made up of Cucumber, cilantro, kale, celery, romaine, lemon.
It looked green and it tasted green…just the way I like it!
For my entree, I ordered the taco salad. The base is a bed of mixed greens, with a huge scoop of guacamole in the middle, salsa fresco, sprinkled with sunflower taco meat all topped off with cashew sour cream. It comes with a salad dressing, but I didn’t find it necessary. It was flavourful and quite dense without being heavy.
Keep your eyes peeled for a Naked Sprout inspired taco salad recipe coming up!
A couple ladies enjoyed the raw tacos (heard they are great!)
and the Protein Power Bowl was a hit too.
For dessert, Vegan Cupcakes via Kind restaurant in Burlington were quite popular at our table!
This chocolate peppermint tastes just like Grasshopper pie. Yum.
and I heard the Chocolate Coconut was amazing too.
Thanks again to everyone for coming out!
The rest of the weekend was spent working on a to-do list: mountains of laundry, recipe testing, cleaning, and eating watermelon.
Lots and lots of watermelon.
I also went on a couple runs and enjoyed some evening walks with the hubby.
The weather was amazing on Sunday…sunny and 30C! Pinch me.
If you are in the area and would like to be put on the email list for future meet ups, let me know below. I’m also starting a running group that will meet on Sunday mornings in different places around the city. The first one kicks off next Sunday, so if you are up for it, let me know in the comments and I’ll add ya!
Eric and I also want to get into sailing. How does one go about sailing without a boat? If any of you might know how to get started sailing in Oakville or if you know anyone who is looking for help, we’d appreciate the tips.
Have a great start to your week!
Those raw tacos look just amazing! Looks like a super fun place to hang out and eat!
Thanks for sharing! Everything looks delicious — and has inspired me to make some cupcakes later this week!
Hmmm…when my friend wants to go sailing, she starts to date a guy who owns a sailboat. I wouldn’t recommend that option to you though. Haha. All of this food looks delicious. You are so lucky to have a restaurant like this so close to home!
hah, well maybe we will have to make some friends by the marina! ;)
That restaurant looks amazing! I just wanted to let you know that your “perfect veggie burger recipe” has been on my must make list for a long time and I finally made it last night. My roommate literally high-fived me after trying one. I’d say that’s another Oh She Glows recipe winner. Can’t wait to enjoy one on top of a salad for lunch (still going strong with the June salad challenge!) Keep the great ideas coming!
haha love the high five :) So glad you both enjoyed it! Thanks Diana :) It’s GREAT on top of a salad!
I wish there were more restaurants like that in my area. I live on the Iowa/Nebraska border, and these people LOVE their steaks. I’m not vegan or vegetarian, but I love having different options, especially when they look as amazing as the foods you’re showing.
Well, I’ve officially drooled all over my keyboard now!
I love trying out new veggie places, too. Especially those that serve big bowls of healthy veg. Everything here looks awesome!
It was great to meet so many amazing women and to reconnect with you Ange! I would love meet-up again, although I’m not ready for the running meet-up. I’m always open for a walking group though. Or a picnic and a walk …. so many fun ideas for the summer!
Definitely :)
Looks like there’s lots of fun to be had in your new city, with lots of like minded friends around. Awesome, creative meals there too!
that meal looks amazing!! i love taco salad.. i usually use black beans but sunflower taco meat sounds incredible!! i’ve tried making taco meat with tvp but i wasnt a big fan. cant wait for your recipe!! :)
ps i was just telling someone it doesnt feel like summertime unless there is watermelon involved.. i can HOUSE watermelon haha
I agree, there’s nothing better than coming in from the heat outside and cracking open a juicy watermelon. I think I may have some more now…
I just moved to burlington and have been wanting to scout out some yummy vegetarian/vegan places (dbf often has very different views on places that look good). I know where I’m going on Saturday for lunch!
Oh gosh i need to get to a vegan restaurant asap! The pictures look sooo good! There are none in the area but when I go travelling i’ll definitely look some up! :) I love what your doing with the group jogs, wish i could join you guys!
The look of all the food you posted. Your recent trip to Scottsdale at Dr. Weil’s restaurant had me really wanting to go there (as I am in Tucson). It’s really interesting to see the unique dishes people can come up with! Especially raw ones!
I look forward to your adventures, and your photographs. Eating Vegan is a Beautiful thing. It’s nice new places are opening up for us. I eat most meals at home, so I know what a treat it is to dine out AND have amazing choices. We are Blessed!!
yes, truly. I couldn’t agree more Lynn
That skinny dip platter looks amazing! I almost thought it was ice cream at first glance :)
What a great looking menu and even better, what an awesome meetup. So many of you awesome ladies in one place and there is nothing better than connecting with others who share the same passion for blogging and food and being able to chat in person about it all and life. I love meetups like those!
Awesome menu, awesome meetup – what more could you want?
I’d love to be in the next meet up!
Also, when in Toronto, you should try live food bar and rawlicious! You should do a downtown meet up :)
I just added you, thanks!
Definitely add me to the list – it has been far too long since our last meet-up.
xoxo
Definitely I would LOVE to see you!
Add me too please ;)
That restaurant looks fantastic! My dad has a baseball tournament up that way near the end of the Summer so I will have to check it out!!
That place looks great, can’t wait to try it next time I am in the Burlington area!
By the way, there is a great raw restaurant in Port Credit called ‘Raw Aura’. Sounds similar to the Naked Sprout and worth checking out. They have a avocado tartar dish that is amazing!
I’ve been to raw Aura and it was great! Have you had their cashew kale chips? omgggg.