Seattle VegFest 2009

The Big Day dawned grey and drizzly, no surprise for Seattle weather and definitely not significant enough to keep the faithful from their journey. (OK, maybe I'm rhapsodising a bit too much...)

But, OH MY!!
The things we saw. The foods we tasted. The people we talked to. The facts we learned. Most of all... the FUN WE HAD!!
Seattle's Vegfest is the largest vegetarian-food festival in the country, with 14,000 visitors last year.

I realize my ramblings may seem a bit redundant, 'cause I've blogged about previous year's VegFests here and here and on and on... and I do tend to get carried away.

But I'm excited to share this year's adventure, as my perspective is somewhat different...

See... instead of the usual group of fellow vegans/vegetarians, I branched out and brought several friends who are definitely not vegetarian, as well as a crew of teenagers, (including my daughter who actually IS vegetarian - I had to have SOME support after all!).

And of course, Barbie came along for the ride, and she may have upstaged me, as she has her OWN blog!! (Fine Barbie, then take your own PICTURES too!!!)

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So without further ado, here's the part you're wanting to read anyway, a sampling of what we sampled:

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One of my favorites first: (OK, everything was a favorite) Best vegan treats in Seattle - at least in my book. Mighty-O Doughnuts. Yes, you CAN be vegan and indulge in sugary, fried pastry goodness!

The picture doesn't do them justice. Wish you could have been there.

A Vegetarian Festival isn't complete without tofu of course, and this is hands down the Best Tofu in the World that I know of.

Small Organic Planet Tofu:

I LOVE this tofu so much! I could be their spokesperson!

I spent quite a while chatting with the owner, "Tofu Phil" who started the company in 1992. They're a small LOCAL artisan tofu company and truly do make the most amazing and delicious tofu I've EVER had. (From a blogger called Tofu-Mom, I think that's the ultimate compliment right there.)

As I've whined about before, my budget doesn't allow specialty items very often, but this is worth it! I can GUARANTEE the price is worth it - my favorite would be the Curry flavored. Even if you *think* you don't like tofu, give theirs a try. At least once. Or ten times. (They're coming out with a new Lemongrass-Ginger variety that I can't WAIT to get a hold of!!)

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Moving on, another of our favorite vendors was Dave, of Dave's Killer Bread. We make sure to visit every year. Go to his website, read his story. Be amazed.

Oh, and try some bread too, you'll never, ever want any other bread. It's been our family's favorite for over a year now. And sorry to tempt those of you who live far, far away... it's a local (Portland) thing.

Dave totally charmed my daughter by posing with Barbie for her blog. You'll have to visit Barbie's Blog to see more.

As a bit of trivia? Dave and I attended the same high school. All the more reason I love his bread :)

Weirdest and most "Un-Vegan-Like" item: "Cavi-Art vegetarian Caviar," made from seaweed. The kids were braver than I was, too fish-egg realistic for me, and I tried it last year, so I'm exempt, aren't I? While my daughter wasn't impressed, her friend Tanner almost liked it, I think.

Best Hummus out of 272829282827 varieties we tried. (Why do these events always attract yet ANOTHER vendor who thinks they have the best hummus out there?)

Well, Maloula's Garden Garlic Hummus was honestly really awesome stuff - definitely stood out from the crowd. That's high praise coming from a hummus-snob like myself who really never eats store-bought. Another local product too!!

We don't remember what this green drink is. My daughter thinks it was a hemp-something-or-other, but I think it looks more like one of the many green drinks being sampled (way too many since I'm NOT a fan of green drinks!!). We all cheered her on for being brave enough to try it!!

And speaking of green, I'd like to take a moment to point out our NAILS, which we'd thoughtfully painted a nice eco-friendly GREEN color in honor of today!

Last, but definitely NOT least, my wonderful friends over at Field Roast!! OK, not friends, like good-buddy-pals, but I consider them such, all the same. They always recognize me from my blog and are SO friendly. They're an amazing, tasty and again LOCAL company! Last year they even gave me a great Field Roast tee shirt - I should have worn it today!!

Field Roast was sampling their new MEATLOAF which will be available in stores in a month or so. EXCELLANT and as you'd expect - SO tasty!! Too bad I got a crap picture. It didn't taste like crap, I swear!!

We ended the day with full tummies, a little craziness and way too many new and tasty ideas. My friend Tanya became particularly attached to the Mighty-O donuts sticker. We just pretended she wasn't with our group.

If you're ever in Seattle around the end of March, VegFest is an AWESOME destination.

Seattle Veg-Fest; Chapter One

As mentioned previously, today was the much-anticipated pilgrimage to Seattle and the hallowed halls of VegFest.

Let me start out right now by saying this blog is NOT a complete recounting of my adventures today. I'm much too wordy to blog about it in one simple paragraph, (as you may have discovered) and much too busy to blog much tonight. But some of you are restless and asking how it went, so here's a teaser: It was a BLAST!!

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Here we are ^^^

My "middle sprout" Olivia, her friend Tanner, one of my best friends, Tanya, and of course, there's me. (For a great perspective on VegFest read Tanner's blog - amusing stuff). Olivia took "Barbie" around to visit many of the booths as well, look for a new update on Veggie-Barbie and Carnivore-Ken's Blog coming very soon!!

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I just wanted to shout out a BIG HELLO to those of you who RECOGNISED me - at least six of you I think - ("Hey, it's Tofu Mom, the Blog Lady!") while inching shoulder-to-shoulder through the crowded lines waiting for a minuscule sample of whatever yummy thing was being handed out at the next booth. I'm honored and flattered. And no, it's not creepy. I am still surprised every time, but glad you're all along for the ride...

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Have a great week.

Chapter Two to follow soon, stay tuned.

Homemade Seitan "Wrap" from a Fairly OLD Tofu Mom

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I must be getting old.
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I know this because my ears are ringing and I am unreasonably exhausted. I blame it on late-night partying. Last night I attended the Jeremy Camp and Mercy Me "Rock and Worship Road Show Tour" with five of my girlfriends. Wild women, aren't we?
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Perfect seats, 12 rows from the stage, what an experience!!! Yes, it was very loud. (See? I'm old!) But it was SO FUN!!! Completely awesome and amazing. If you're into Christian Music, or these particular artists, and this tour comes anywhere near your hometown, by all means GO!! GO!! And it's ONLY 10$ dollars!! One of the most meaningful and incredible evenings I have had in ages!!!

And even better? We started with an all vegan dinner at Seattle's lovely Bamboo Garden restaurant.

But back to feeling old - and the concert. Well, said concert ended after 11:PM and we ended up home after midnight - I was so wound up it took a long time after that to actually SLEEP!!

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Here's what I found waiting for me in MY bed! Once I made room for myself to actually sleep in my bed, I crashed like a dead person.

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I'm sure I used to stay up this late all the time with minimal effects on my energy level. But today, let me tell you, I FEEL OLD!! My butt is d-r-a-g-g-i-n-g...

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Which brings me to lunch today - since I was completely out of ideas (or ambition) and apparently my children were dying of starvation because you KNOW I never feed them, I pulled a package of homemade seitan out of the freezer, thawed in the evil microwave and grilled it for some quick, easy "wraps".

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If you make your own seitan, by all means freeze some of it for later. It defrosts easily and works perfectly in sandwiches, soups, stir-fry and any other quick meals you want to throw together. SO CHEAP too!!
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Now, I am not fond of the word "wrap" so I'm not sure why I'm using it. I guess because it more accurately describes this sandwich than calling it a burrito. It's just a bunch of good stuff in a flour tortilla, call it what you want.

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No recipe for the wrap itself, it's just homemade seitan using the Quick Seitan Cutlets recipe (to which I added sage and thyme - hence the sloghtly green color) from Vegan Dad's blog. I grilled the seitan to fabulousness in the panini press, cut into strips, wrapped in a flour tortilla with chipotle BBQ sauce, my own slightly amazing vegan ranch and baby greens.

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DEEEELISH!!! Enjoy and have a great weekend. I'm back to Seattle again tomorrow for VegFest. My middle Sprout Daughter is going with me and ....(*gasp*) bringing a BOY WITH HER! Details later.

Middle Eastern Rice Pilaf

Dinner the other night seemed to have a Mediterranean twist without any particular planning ahead. First, I'd found several amazing artichokes at the market and simply trimmed and steamed them. If you don't know how to trim artichokes, there are many tutorials online, but usually they trim off WAY more leaves than we prefer. Basically, mine looks like THIS before I put 'em in the pot...

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Well, artichokes take a while to steam, and I had a starving 9-year-old "Sprout" bouncing around the kitchen anticipating her favorite veggie, so I decided to distract her by having her help make a rice pilaf-type thingy to go with.

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Since Sprout was assisting me in the kitchen, the rice ended up with several of her OTHER favorites, garbanzos and pistachios. And it turned out GREAT! The combination was such an accidental hit with my kids, I made it for a potluck yesterday and again, it disappeared quickly.

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The secret to our rice is a spice blend called za'atar. Za'atar is generally prepared using ground dried thyme, oregano, marjoram, or some combination thereof, mixed with toasted sesame seeds and sometimes, salt. I prefer the version that also has sumac, and is more tangy and reddish in color - TOTALLY delicious stuff. I discovered it several years ago and use it often in roasted veggies, potatoes and hummus. You can find it at Middle Eastern markets and specialty grocery stores. (You CAN sub some thyme, oregano, sesame seeds and a squeeze of lemon juice if you really have to).

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Middle Eastern Rice with Za'atar and Garbanzos

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1 cup long grain white rice

1/2 cup vermicelli crumbled into 1 inch long pieces (or angel hair pasta, or orzo)

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 1/2 cups chicken-style, or vegetable broth

1 cup cooked garbanzo beans

1/2 cup water

2 tsp za'atar Mediterranean seasoning blend

1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup chopped pistachios

Put vermicelli and oil in a deep, covered pan suitable for cooking rice.

Heat until the vermicelli is golden brown. (Just like you were making "Rice-A-Roni" if you've ever done that...)

Add rice, broth, garbanzos and water and mix well. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer for 25 minutes until rice is cooked, checking once or so to make sure it's not sticking. Turn heat off and let sit a few minutes. Stir the pilaf, add seasonings and serve garnished with pistachios.

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My 'Sprout' loved breaking up the angel-hair pasta into small bits (we did this over the sink, because the stuff flies EVERYwhere..) as well as opening the can of garbanzos, draining them and dumping into the rice. She also chopped the nuts and shook in the spices.

Garlicky Brocolli Rabe with Pasta and Pine Nuts

Oh, this is an insanely good combination. Again, just one of those "things" that you accidently make and it's good so you keep making it.

I had a package of lovely Italian Orecchiette pasta I'd been wanting to use. They're little, slightly rounded pasta shaped roughly like small ears, hence the name (orecchio, ear, orecchiette, little ears). It seemed perfect to pair it with some Brocolli Rabe, a delicious, slightly "bitter" green originally from Italy. (And really not bitter at all.)It's just getting popular in markets around here and I'm thinking I'll grow some this summer - Of course, if you (or your children) prefer, use chard, spinach or brocolli. And shell pasta. Or whatever you want.

So without further explanation, here you go....

Broccoli Rabe with Orecchiette

1 /3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 1/2 lb. trimmed broccoli rabe
1 lb. dried orecchiette
1 cup vegetarian chicken-style broth (optional)
Salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts or chopped, toasted pecans if you prefer...
1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes

1/2 tsp. lemon juice

In a large pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until the garlic is tender. Set aside.

Bring a large pot three-fourths full of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the broccoli rabe and cook until just tender. Using tongs, lift out and transfer to a bowl of ice water to shock. Leave the pot of water over high heat. Drain the broccoli rabe well and squeeze gently to remove water. Chop into pieces.

Add the pasta to the boiling water used to cook the broccoli rabe, and cook until done to your liking.

While the pasta is cooking, add the broccoli rabe to the pan holding the garlic. Return to medium heat, season generously with salt, pepper, additional red pepper flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the broccoli is hot throughout. (This is where you may also add the broth if you want it less "dry".)

Drain the pasta and return to the warm pot. Add the garlic/oil/rabe, nuts, lemon juice and nutritional yeast and toss with the pasta. YUMMMMM!

Vegan Green Chile Cornbread

OK, I got to talking to friends on FaceBook today (yes, I have no life!!) and realized my "old" (old, old) favorite cornbread recipe was most decidedly NOT vegan. You can tell it's been quite a while, and that I've settled for other cornbread recipes like THIS ONE which are still amazing and good, but not the old favorite I grew up on.... So I set about veganizing my favorite! And since it turned out on the first attempt, I'm proudly posting the results!!

There's not anything terribly original or unique here. It uses creamed corn (yes, it's vegan 99% of the time, read the label to be sure) which adds corn kernals and keeps the bread moist and of course there's a few green chiles for a little heat.

Vegan Green Chile Corn Bread

• 2 Tbsp melted coconut oil
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (you can use part whole wheat)
• 2 Tbsps. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 8oz. can creamed corn
• 1/4 cup WELL DRAINED chopped, roasted green chiles (settle for canned only as a last resort, if you have no access to the fresh or frozen authentic New Mexican green chiles...)
• 3/4 cup plant milk mixed with 2 Tbsp cider vinegar or lemon-juice (vegan "buttermilk")
• My "egg replacer" (1 Tbsp EnRGee Egg Replacer powder + 1 Tbsp ground flax seed, blended with 1/4 cup plant milk)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Pour 1 Tbsp coconut oil into a 9" pan (or cast iron skillet) and bake for 5 minutes, until the pan is very hot.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Make a well in the center of this mixture, and pour the creamed corn, green chiles, milk, remaining coconut oil and egg replacer into the well.
Stir until smooth.
Pour the batter into the hot pan.
Bake until the cornbread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes.
Remove the cornbread from the oven, and allow it stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Have a great week!!

I Have Crazy Children.

I do, I have crazy Sprout children. Of course I love them to death in spite (or because) of their craziness, but they keep me on my toes never knowing what to expect next.

I present the following evidence.
My Middle Sprout's latest and most favorite Panini Sandwich invention:

The Grilled Spaghetti-Garlic-Bread-Sandwich

(I told her I was going to blog about it and she didn't believe me. It's really pretty good, and if nothing else, it's a rather original use for leftovers.)


Should you choose to try this, here's what you do:

• 2 slices hearty French or Sourdough bread
• 2 tsp vegan margarine
• 1 clove pressed garlic
• 1/2 cup cooked spaghetti or angel hair, chopped up - aprox 1 inch pcs.
• 1 Tbsp. sauce
• 1 Tbsp olives, chopped
• 1-2 slices "meltable" vegan cheese slices

Mix pressed garlic with margarine. Spread thinly on bread.
Mix sauce into spaghetti. Stir in olives.
Crumble the cheese and mush it around into the spaghetti.
Lay 1 slice bread on heated Panini Grill, buttered side down.
Heap spaghetti mixture onto bread and spread evenly to edges.
Lay remaining bread slice on top, buttered side up.

Grill until sandwich is toasty and cheese is melty.
Dip in additional sauce if you want. YUMMMMMM

Have a great week.