Canteen in Portland: There’s a bowl for that

What better way to end the series of Portland posts than with the dish that, to me, defined Portland…bowls! They were such an iconic dish there that for two weeks after getting back to Atlanta, I just made bowls and only bowls.

We had these two lovely bowls at a small neighborhood joint, Canteen.

Neal got the Bangkok Bowl which was avocado, curry and red curry peanut sauce, long brown rice, aduki beans, broccoli, red cabbage, kimchi and black sesame seeds.

I got the Walnut Taco Salad which was walnut taco crumbles with mixed greens, pico de gallo, avocado, curry sauce, carrots, cashew ancho spread, sliced avocado and green onions. While not technically classified as a bowl it had all the bowl qualities- lots of different elements layered separately that come together nicely when mixed.

Portland vegan food, It’s goodbye for now…until we meet again..

Creamy Linguine with King Trumpets

I’ve never met a fungi that I didn’t like love. The first time I saw king trumpet mushrooms (aka king oyster, French horn..) was on ASTIG vegan’s site. I was in awe of this fungus that looked so much like scallops when sliced. Since then, they lingered in the back of my mind but I never made a conscious effort to seek them out until recently.

I found these beauties at the Dekalb Farmer’s Market where they initially eluded me until Neal found them on the top shelf of the mushroom section. I was so ecstatic that I lifted the package above my head in a victory stance and then hugged it gingerly,  my preciousss! My overly dramatic show of excitement and affection for fungus was picked up on by a fellow shopper who I later spied examining them and taking some home herself.

I was going for the scallop-y effect when I made this dish - a creamy linguine mixed with parsley and topped with pan seared king trumpets, fresh squeezed lemon juice and chives. The linguine was a nice smooth backdrop for the smoky, earthy and surprisingly buttery taste of the mushrooms. I fell in love with this fungi with the first tender bite. I think my dramatics at the farmer’s market were well founded and I hope my fellow shopper was just as pleased with these little big guys as I was.

Creamy Linguine with King Trumpet “Scallops”

Ingredients

• 7-8oz of linguine (I used a little less than half of a 16 oz. box)
• 1 cup soaked and drained cashews (soaked for at least 1 hour)
• 1/3 cup of veggie stock
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• 1/2 cup of non-dairy milk (I used almond)
• 1 tsp nutritional yeast
• 1/4-1/2 cup of chopped parsley
• 2-3 tbs of olive oil
• 9.5 oz of king trumpet mushrooms sliced into scallop sized chunks

Directions

1. Cook the linguine until al dente.
2. Throw the cashews, veggie stock, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice, milk and nutritional yeast into a high speed blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
3. Mix the sauce with the linguine, stir in the chopped parsley and let it sit over low heat until mushrooms are ready.
4. Pan sear the mushrooms with the olive oil sprinkling each side with salt and pepper. I used a grill pan to get the grill marks.
5. Assemble by laying down linguine, then mushrooms and then chopped chives. Finish with a generous squeeze of 2 lemon slices all over. This makes about 2-3 servings.

Breakfast in PDX

I can’t believe I have more food posts from Portland. No wait, yes I can—it’s a vegan wonderland (like that John Mayer song but way better). And to think that we only scratched the surface!

Vita Cafe

I had the “Faux Tofurkey Florentine” which was two English muffins topped with local tofu, homemade faux turkey, spinach and vegan hollandaise. I thought I wouldn’t be able to eat it all, but I did.

Neal got the “2+2+2″ which was tofu, vegan sausage and French toast. I ate some of his French Toast…delish!

Hungry Tiger Too

Neal got the  ”Chicken’ and Waffle”, which he kindly let me take generous bites of.

I got, two vegan corn dogs with a side of slaw. I know corn dogs isn’t breakfast-y, but vegan corn dogs!! While they weren’t mind blowingly amazing, I enjoyed eating them again after not having had one for many years.

Both of these places were pretty casual, but Hungry Tiger Too had more of a classic diner feel. Both meals were delicious and if we had more time, I would have liked to eat my way through both menus.

Fine Dining in PDX

Ever eat food so good that it made you close your eyes with every bite? Or made you dig deep to find that last empty reserve in your stomach so you could eat all the goodness that lay before you? This happened to us a lot in PDX, but embarrassingly noticeably so at The Blossoming Lotus and Departure.

Though Blossoming Lotus is an all vegan restaurant, I had no trouble picking out what I wanted. Neal wanted it too. No way were we both gonna order the same thing at a new restaurant. So instead I went with the “Carribean Phyllo Roulade”- sweet potato mash and jerked seasonal veggies wrapped in phyllo dough and served with a carrot Habanero sauce and mixed greens with a pickled onion and hazelnut vinaigrette.

And Neal ordered the lasagna off the specials which was seitan bolognese, cashew basil cream, heirloom tomato, sorrel pesto and olive.  I know the food is beyond delicious when I end up closing my eyes and moaning in pleasure with each bite and I don’t even care that other patrons think we’re doing kinky food stuff. Throw in some picture-taking while muttering, “oh yeah baby” under my breath…hello crazy lady!

We made room for dessert and got the raw cheesecake a la mode with the soft serve flavor of the day, orange creamsicle. More blissed out moans of pleasure.

Though Departure is not a vegan restaurant it offers a complete vegan menu as well as a gluten-free menu (many non-vegan restaurants in PDX do this).  This restaurant is located directly downtown on the top floor of a hotel giving fabulous views of the city. Enh, are ya sure we’re dressed for this? Yes, hoodies and sneaks are a-ok.

Up first, dim sum! And because I love buns, we got two! “Steamed Onion-Ginger Buns” with a maple chili glaze (gobbled up before a pic of the inside was taken)

and “BBQ Tempeh Buns” filled with Korean bbq sauce and spicy slaw. I wonder if they can freeze these and mail them to me so I can have them for breakfast.

Next, we had the “Grilled Shiitake Roll” with scallions, avocado, butter lettuce and carrot sauce,

and “Sweet Potato Tempura Roll” with spinach, ginger and spicy miso. I love that, one, I got to eat tempura because tempura usually has eggs in it and two, that these rolls broke out of the normal vegan humdrum of avocado and cucumber rolls.

And for dessert, a “Departure Banana Split” with banana tempura, cherry compote, miso butterscotch and peanut brittle ice cream. Let the eye closing and pleasure moaning commence, onlookers be damned.

Get Your Dilly on with this Mediterranean Inspired Bowl

One thing I learned from our recent PDX trip, is that it’s all about the bowl. And the bowl is all about the sauce. Since the sweltering summertime heat and humidity is back in the ATL, I wanted to make a bowl that could be eaten cold or at room temperature. This bowl combines fresh Mediterranean inspired summery herbs and crisp, cool veggies with a creamy dill sauce.

The recipe is based on this bulgur dish and this cashew cheese recipe. It’s super easy but requires some inactive “down” time like refrigeration and soaking, so planning ahead is essential. I got about 2-3 bowls out of this recipe with some sauce leftover.

Mediterranean Bowl

The Base:

• 1 cup of bulgur wheat
• 1 cup of boiling veggie broth
• 1/2 cup of chopped green onions (about 2 stalks/bulbs)
• 1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1-2 packed tbs of chopped mint
• 1/2 cup of halved cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1/2 cup of chopped cucumbers
• 2tbs olive oil
• 1 1/2 tbs lemon juice
• salt and pepper (to taste)

The Sauce:

• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of raw cashews
• 1/4 cup packed dill and flat leaf parsley (50/50 ratio)  + 1/4 cup chopped dill to stir in at the end
• 2 1/2 tbs lemon juice
• 1/2 cup of water (read directions, you may need less)

Toppings:

• dates
• chopped green onions

First make the base,

1. Place the bulgur in a bowl and pour in the boiling veggie broth. Cover the bowl and let it stand for 30 minutes or so until bulgur absorbs broth.
2. After the bulgur is cooked, dump in the rest of the ingredients and mix everything really well.  Add more salt and pepper if needed.
3. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using.

Now make the sauce,

1. In a small blender (I used my magic bullet) or food processor, pulse the garlic and salt.
2. Add the cashews and blend until powdery/pasty.
3. Add the 1/4 cup of packed herbs, the lemon juice and only half of the water. Blend.
4. Slowly add more water and continue to blend until the sauce reaches desired consistency. I ended up using almost all of the water.
5. By hand, stir in the 1/4 cup chopped dill. Add more fresh dill if you wanna. Get dilly with it.

Finally put it all together,

1. Give the bulgur one more good stir and then pile some up in a bowl.
2. I happened to have a batch of Terry Hope Romero’s steamed seitan, so I added that on top of the bulgur. It’s not necessary.
3. Pour a generous amount of sauce all over.
4. Top with 1-2 chopped dates and a generous amount of chopped green onions.
5. Then stir it all up. It got kinda messy, but that’s the fun part about bowls. For me at least!

I had leftover dill sauce from this recipe. It’s a great dip for crackers or veggies like roasted parsnips which The Cozy Vegan uses as her own dill sauce dipping vessel. Or just get your dilly on by dipping your finger in it and eating it that way.

Portland Food Trucks

You know how when you visit food trucks ya feel lucky if you find a couple of vegan options.  If you find a whole truck dedicated to vegan food, then it feels like you’ve hit the vegan jackpot.  Ok, so now imagine finding TWO completely vegan trucks right by each other offering over 15 hearty vegan meals! That happened at the Mississippi Marketplace when we were in Portland.

The food trucks were Homegrown Smoker and Native Bowl. They turned two already indecisive vegans into two crazies standing in front of both trucks scrutinizing their menus, comparing the specs of each mouthwateringly described dish against one another and saying “Oh no, you go ahead…we’re still deciding” to every person that walked up.

We finally did reach some important decisions without resorting to coin tosses or reciting “eeny, meeny, miny, moe” rhymes. We ended up just following our guts. That and we went back to the food trucks the following day.

On the first visit we both ate at Homegrown Smoker. Neal got the SloSmoMoFo- apple wood smoked soy curls on a bun with chipotle slaw and maple bourbon bbq sauce with a side of their Mac-nocheese.

I got the Macnocheeto – a grilled flour tortilla filled with Mac-Nocheese, sweet baked beans, grilled peppers and onions and the maple bourbon bbq sauce.

On the second visit, Neal ate at Homegrown again and got the Smoker Sammich- smoked soy curls on a bun with grilled peppers and onions and that sweet smoky maple bourbon bbq sauce with a side of STFU puppies-crispy fried corn fritters with remoulade sauce.

I got the Mississippi Bowl from Native Bowl- jasmine rice, house-made ranch sauce, barbecue soy curls, two kinds of barbecue sauce, fresh crisp slaw, and scallions.  This is the Mississippi Bowl not stirred.

And here it is all stirred up- this is how ya supposed to do it!  I’ve been craving the perfect blend of sweet, savory, cool and crisp captured in this bowl ever since we left.

This fantastical corner of the food truck park was like hitting the vegan jackpot on steroids. Next time we go (and there will be a next time) I definitely want to get the Mississippi Bowl again. Or maybe I should try the Hollywood Bowl. Then again, the treuben sounds good too…as do the chili cheese fries..

Vida Vegan Con 2013

We just got back from our little tour of the Pacific Northwest and I’m dying crying a little inside as I scan through my pictures. Oh Portland, how I miss you already!

There’s no way to capture this magical fantasy-land all at once so I’ll start with the main attraction, the Vida Vegan Conference 2013.  Most of which took place in the Mark Building of the classy Portland Art Museum.

Right outside the art museum was a large span of green space where I could sit and chill with Abe while basking in the Portland sun (yes, the sun did come out!).

I could probably write a tome about all the wonderful talks that took place at Vida Vegan Con, but I’m just gonna highlight a few of my favorite tidbits. For a full play-by-play, visit Sews Before Bros.

• To take vegan ethics beyond the plate, it’s good to seize intersectional opportunities. For example, the fire at the Bangladesh factory was a good way to introduce the idea of ethically sourced products.
• There’s always something I can do better in my veganism. The point is to do the very best that I can.
• I gotta stop using palm oil (see above).
• Filter amazon searches for vegan cookbooks by “publication date” and request review copies in advance…who knew?!
• Be authentic! There’s only one me who can tell my story in my voice. This tidbit came from Cadry from Cadry’s Kitchen who I got the pleasure of meeting. She is just as luminous in real life as she is on her blog and videos.
• Do the things that bring me joy and my passion for these things will translate easily to readers. More words of wisdom from Cadry.
• I gotta get Adobe lightroom, which surprisingly works with jpeg files, to post process my food photos. Susan Voisin from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen gave a real time lightroom demo and wowee! Her entire presentation on food photography is here.
• When reviewing a recipe, put a twist on it to show it’s adaptability. This came from the incredibly talented Hannah Kaminsky from Bittersweet who I also got to meet! I didn’t get to see her first talk on food styling, but she put a recap on her blog.
• Stop self editing myself while I write blog posts. That is what second and third edits are for. Free writing is where the magic happens. This advice came from none other than Isa Chandra Moskowitz herself in an intimate writing workshop.

In addition to the treasure trove of talks, I got to hobnob with other vegans like Kylie from Life of Kylie and of course stuff mah face silly with all the vegan foods. Everyday the exhibitors in the ballroom tempted me with their vegan eats. And I succumbed to the temptation. every. single. time.

Veggie Grill fed the VVC participants the first night of the conference with a kale salad marinated in their ginger-papaya vinaigrette, chickin’ wings and a chicken’ wrap served with ranch and buffalo wing sauce.

It was so tasty that Neal and I ate there later that night. He got the Chipotle BBQ burger and mac and cheese.

I had the Baja Fiesta salad which had papayas and was served with that delicious ginger-papaya vinaigratte.

Portland, I may not be able to live with you just yet, but the dream is still alive.

Viva la Portland!

Hello Portland!

Oh hey. I’m just gonna be chillin’ at Vida Vegan Con (VVC) this weekend, no bigs. No, but seriously it is bigs!! Vegan blogging super stars everywhere! I don’t plan on blogging “live” for the rest of our trip, though I will be using instagram, twitter and facebook. Stay tuned for VVC/Portland/Seattle blog posts in the near future.

A few vegangrams of some of the vegan swag I got today:

Hey guacamole, you’ve got some quinoa on you.

I had leftover guacamole from my nacho-tempeh-bacon-guac sandwiches and I knew if I didn’t eat it all quickly, it would start turning blackish in color despite my attempts to keep it from air.

Guacamole that has turned darker due to oxidation is not inedible but let’s face it, bright green guacamole is way more appetizing. So why not disguise it?

I got this idea from Epicurean Vegan who mixed mashed avocados with rice and beans.  I didn’t have rice so instead I mixed my leftover guacamole with a cooked combo of white and dark quinoa. Then I stirred in left over diced tomatoes with green chilis (from a can) and some salt and pepper to taste.

Then, I topped it with some black beans, sour cream and green onions. Since the guacamole was already made and full of flavor, this dish could not have been simpler. This kept in the fridge for several days and the guacamole kept on looking awesomely appetizing due to its quinoa disguise!

PS. Portland, I’ll see you in a few days for VVC!

Going out with a sneeze

I have a cold. It’s full blown-sies. An end of school year gift from my students I’m sure. When I’m under the weather, I don’t feel like doing anything in the kitchen.  Solution: get someone else to do the cooking.

Neal made me this brunch of tofu scramble, fried “ham”, english muffins and strawberries.

And one night we went to Harmony, a veg Chinese restaurant.

Pickled carrots and cabbage, served at the beginning of each meal here. Neal doesn’t like it so I eat it all.

Wonton Soup- we always order this when we eat here.

Salt and Pepper “Squid”- new menu item, second time we’ve gotten it.

Szechuan style green beans- we order this every time we’re here.

Orange “beef”- don’t order this as often, but it was tasty!

I’ve been taking vitamin C, drinking a lot of tea and smoothies, and sucking on Ricola’s non-stop. I sure hope I am feeling back to my old self soon. I’m tired of the stuffed up nose and the Darth Vader-like mouth breathing.

Any tips on how to curb a cold quick?