BY ALYAA MALIK
If you’ve always wanted to become vegan but find it challenging to prepare your own dishes, you will find comfort (and flavor) in Ayla’s Vegan Kitchen with her delicious meals delivered right at your doorstep.
Three years ago, Ayla Dimitriadis made a life-changing decision to become vegan. As with most vegan novices, her journey treaded a slow and steady pace. It was a process of unlearning her past eating habits and removing one item off at a time. Once she realized how many vegan options there were, it propelled her to take on the lifestyle change at full speed.
Ayla’s Vegan Kitchen was born out of the lack of healthy food choices that Ayla noticed within her community. She realized that if she couldn’t find it, she should create it instead. Her background as a chef coupled with her newfound passion for veganism allowed her to create her home business in the Diplomatic Quarter which is modeled after the way she aims to eat too: healthy yet delicious and all preservative free! Since then, she has expanded her knowledge by taking on more courses about recipes and nutrition so that she can continue to add new dishes to her menu.
Her carte du jour is regularly announced over her social media (@aylaskitchen) for customers to place their lunch orders in advance. Each day features a different set of meals which includes an appetizer, main course and dessert. We tried one of her set menus on a Sunday, which listed the Chickpea Salad, Lebanese Style Molokhiya with Roasted Pepper and Garlic Dip and a slice of Orange Cake. Delivery times are usually between 12:00 noon to 2:00 PM.
For a non-vegan like myself, I was interested to see how I would react to the flavor of the dishes. Surprisingly enough, the molokhiya dish was extremely flavorful and scrumptious that I could not stop at one bite. My hefty spoonful of brown rice and molokhiya had a savory garlic taste paired with the sweetness from the roasted bell pepper dip; it almost made me a vegan believer. The chickpea salad had a good crunch and zest about it while the orange cake was classic perfection right out of a recipe book. It was all as good as it looked and I was delightfully full. Other best-selling items on her menu are the vegan cheeses, smoked salmon, pizza, Greek dishes and cakes.
When I asked Ayla how would she pitch the vegan/vegetarian lifestyle to a non-vegan like me, she said: “Most people think that vegans are extremists that eat nothing but salads. There’s nothing extreme about not wanting to be a part of the pain and torture that animals go though especially when there’s really not much I don’t eat. Pizza, burgers, nuggets, pasta, cake, ice cream you name it! And whatever I don’t find an alternative for, I make. I make my own smoked salmon, cheese and more, and believe me I’ve been able to fool a lot of people into thinking it’s the real deal. The one thing I can say about turning vegan is I wish I’d done it earlier!”
Ayla collaborates with local farms as much as possible when sourcing her ingredients. She also prepares the daily lunch menu for an entire month (check the Highlights section of her Instagram for details) and customers can avail a package of their choice: 1 day, 3 days, 5 days or a full month. For catering events, Ayla’s Vegan Kitchen provides a varied set of menu upon request.
Ayla’s Vegan Kitchen
Contact No.: 966-50-263-9822
Social Media: @aylaskitchen
Accepts orders from inside and outside the DQ.
