Vegging out?

How green is Wingbean, Asheville's newest vegan bulk-meal delivery service? “We're the real deal, as far as environmentalism and veganism,"says Scott Myers, co-owner with partner, Pamela Lalik. The self-described "ethical vegetarian" duo deliver their bulk animal-product-free comfort food, packaged in biodegradable disposables, in biodiesel-powered vehicles.

Here's how the service works: A single order costs $70 plus tax, and includes three entrees, four side dishes, a large soup and a small dessert (most people get three servings from each entree and side). Orders can be doubled in size for $50 more.

Though not a trained chef, Lalik handles most of the cooking on her own. Lalik says that she’s refrained from going to culinary school because she doesn’t want to study in a place that handles meat.

Just because the food that Wingbean delivers is completely plant-based doesn't mean that customers should expect austerity, Lalik says. "I didn't give up meat because I didn't like it. I try to get the basic flavors and the comfort that you get from traditional food, but translated into a plant-based menu."

For more information about Wingbean, visit https://www.wingbean.com.

Veg-In-Out, Asheville's oldest vegan delivery service, specializes in vegan comfort food delivered to your door. Chef and New England Culinary Institute grad Shane Casto has 18 total years of experience working everywhere from Boston to the Virgin Islands, where he was the head chef of an eco-resort. His experience translates to creativity in the kitchen, he says. “No cookbook recipes here," he says.

Like Wingbean, everything at Veg-In-Out is 100 percent vegan, and a week's worth of handmade food (approximately nine meals including dessert made by a trained pastry chef) is delivered to your door for $70 (though Veg-In-Out offers a $5 discount for customers who pick up their own food). Also like Wingbean, the utensils and dishware are compostable. The business delivers its food in a truck that runs on veggie oil. (If it seems like that’s an awful lot of similarities, it may interest you that the Wingbean entrepreneurs are former employees of Veg-In-Out).

Casto says that Veg-In-Out takes its claim of scratch-made seriously. "We make everything from scratch here," says Casto. "The only thing that can be considered processed is tofu and tempeh. We make our own seitan in-house and use [locally made] Smiling Hara tempeh."

For more information about Veg-In-Out, visit http://www.veginout.net.