VIDA VEGAN CON DAY 1

So. I am finally here.

In Portland, at the VERY MUCH ANTICIPATED, first ever, super-exciting "Vida Vegan Con" Conference for vegan writers, bloggers, cookbook authors, recipe creators, cooks, chefs, and generally anyone who's excited about spreading the word about veganism, I think!

Tickets sold out super-fast, and I was one of the lucky 200 or so that is attending this year's (the first of it's kind) event! I'm so very excited to meet so many of the people who I chat with on Facebook, Twitter and those whose cookbooks I memorize or photography skills I idolize. So much to learn and absorb! I'm SO psyched!! It's gonna be FUN!!

So, though things don't officially "start" until tomorrow, tonight there was a "Meet and Greet", along with a screening of "Vegucated", a movie about three people who change their lives when they go vegan, (of course!).
I didn't go to these pre-conference activities, (though by all reports these events were a blast!!) but spent the day playing "Vacationing-Vegan-Tourist" around Portland with my friend (and fellow conference attendee) Shaun.

That said, I'll show you just a FEW of the amazing vegan food-things you can get here in the lovely City of Roses.

First off, when we arrived in town (late) last night, we stopped by Vita Cafe for "chicken" fried tempeh with smashed potatoes and their amazing almond gravy. (Sorry for the lame iPhone picture)
I could drink this gravy, it's that good. And that's saying a LOT coming from me, as I pretty much own the vegan gravy world.

Vita has soups, sandwiches, breakfasts, burgers, American diner food type stuff. And it's VEGAN!

My main reason for stopping there though, (besides the gravy) is their vegan Bloody Marys.

Yes, even your drinks can have animal bits in them. A traditional Bloody Mary has Worcestershire sauce in it.

And Worcestershire has anchovies in it. Tiny smushed up little fish. Eeeww..

Making a traditional Bloody Mary NOT vegan. :cry:.

But the ones at Vita are not only delicious and topped with, like, five pickled, salty, crunchy things; but they're served in a small Mason jar, reasonable priced, strong and vegan too.

If I hadn't been so painfully full, the vegan Marionberry Cheesecake would have seriously tempted me. I considered take out for breakfast but decided to exercise SOME restraint.

Then, today (after I slept like a dead person until 1:30 PM - vacation much?) we hit up my second-favorite Portland spot, Hungry Tiger Two. HT2 has an equally impressive run-down of classic comfort-food favorites (and their gravy is tasty, and quite edible, though not my favorite).

They do trump any other vegan restaurant that I know of though, with their "Tofuffalo Wings"...

Hot wings gone vegan and so good you'll want to take them home and marry them. Seriously. They also come in "BBQ" which is good too, but the "Hot Wing" flavor was my fave!

And even bettter, they're on sale on Thursday nights!!
Shaun and I sat at the table and did the math... "How much could we spend and NOT look like complete vegan-gluttons?" Heehee.

Shaun also ordered their tofu "Chicken and Waffle" lunch and we both thought the tofu and waffle were extremely good. (Almost as good as my waffles, which again, is saying a LOT!).

Yes, there's more to do in Portland than just EAT. (Whatwhat?) We also stopped by Powell's Bookstore (they're hiring, hmmmm...), the waterfront, the Rose Gardens and several awesome fountains, just for fun. It was a BEAUTIFUL, warm, sunny day!!

This concludes the whirlwind tour of Portland foodie-yumminess for the evening. Tomorrow I'll be blogging all sorts of Vegan Conference stuff, stay tuned!!

Grits and Gravy

Somehow I'm stuck on breakfast blogging lately. Perhaps because summer's laid back schedule allows time for things other than Cheerios and rice-milk.
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Grits, though not exactly a familiar food in the Pacific NorthWest, are, ironically one of my kids' long-time favorites...
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For the uninformed, "grits" (or "traditional white hominy grits") are somewhat different than cornmeal.

Alton Brown explains it best:

"Cornmeal (like you'd make polenta with) is made from ground dried corn. Grits are made from ground, dried hominy (which is still corn, but treated slightly different). To make hominy, you start with field corn that's dried. Then the dried corn kernels are soaked in a solution of baking soda, lime, or wood ash ("lye water") for a day or two. (Sounds yummy, huh?) The kernel's shell pops off, and the kernel swells to twice its size. Kernels are rinsed more than once, then dried again, and finally ground into grits."

The directions for grits are on the box.

Go buy a box, try them. I have no special words of wisdom there. Just follow the directions on the box.

Very warm, creamy, homey "comfort food" sort-of stuff, but with more texture and character than, say, Cream of Wheat....

And for the best breakfast ever, top them with gravy.

Whatever gravy YOU like. But by all means have some gravy. I am completely smitten with gravy.
My gravy recipe here is nothing special, just the is the same-ol', same-ol' stuff I make to smother just about every breakfast item I can think of....

COUNTRY GRAVY from a past post, with some of my smashed up, and browned HOMEMADE SEITAN SAUSAGE added in. Sausage is optional, it's good without too!

I'll leave you with this hilarious picture of our cat contemplating life from atop HIS precious pot of fresh catnip... of which he indulges in fairly often!!
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Have a great weekend.

I'm headed to "Vida Vegan Con" tomorrow. The premiere Vegan Blogger's Conference held in Portland (vegan mecca of the world!). Stay tuned, as the next few posts will be ALL ABOUT the conference!!!

Vegan Alfredo Sauce (Two Ways, or raw even!)

Time for a (*gasp*) repeat.

Yes. It's true.
I've posted both of these lovely Vegan Alfredo recipes several times - but they seem to get buried deep in the archives of my blog and for whatever reason, even I forget where they are.

Alfredo pasta is an oft requested favorite with my friends and family (vegan and not). Since I KNOW the recipes are a reliable hit and they're both super-easy to throw together, these were my fall-back this summer if (when) called upon to "bring something" to whatever impromptu potluck or gathering we might be involved in.

The first version is my personal favorite, both for ease in preparation and the delicious tangy, nutty. garlic taste; but cashews are on the spendy side of my budget, so I don't use them EVERY time I'm craving creamy pasta.
Version 2 is a smoother, creamier, milder sauce, not as garlicky but still lovely, rich, sauce-y comfort-food...

With that introduction, "VEGAN ALFREDO, TWO WAYS", here you go:

OK,

OPTION #1:

Cashew Garlic Alfredo Sauce (with option for RAW Alfredo):

• 1/2 cup raw cashews (not roasted)
• 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice (I don't measure, just a good squeeze)
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water (or not boiling, if you want an RAW sauce, the texture will be less creamy, but still good!!)
• 1 clove garlic (or more to taste)
• 1 Tbsp. extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 Tb. nutritional yeast (optional)

Pulverize raw cashews in the food processor until very finely ground, but NOT until they start to turn into cashew butter.

Carefully add boiling water.

(*The BEST way to do this, is to make the sauce while your pasta is cooking and scoop out 1 1/2 cups of lightly salted pasta-cooking water and use it - the starch from the pasta-cooking water thickens the sauce PERFECTLY!)

Add water to cashews and process until smooth... this will take several minutes.

Add nutritional yeast (optional - my kids prefer it without), garlic clove, olive oil and squeeze of lemon juice.

Process again until smooth, another couple minutes, it'll start to thicken a bit too!

Taste and add salt, pepper or whatever you think it needs.

Makes a really nice creamy sauce if you get the cashews ground finely.

Serve over cooked pasta, potatoes, meatballs, or whatever it is raw foodie people put pasta sauce on!!

OPTION TWO:

Vegan "Alfredo" Cream Sauce

• 1/2 c Earth Balance or other vegan margarine
• 2 cups soymilk/almond milk/ricemilk (unsweetened!!! NOT just "plain" as that is usually sweetened...)
• 1 package Mori-Nu Silken Tofu (the kind in the shelf-stable tetra packs)
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice or white wine
• 2 tbsp onion powder
• 1 crushed garlic clove
• 1-2 tsp salt
• 1-2 tsp black pepper (to taste)
• pinch of nutmeg
• 3 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in cold water

Blend tofu and soymilk in food processor or blender until creamy. Melt margarine, add other ingredients except cornstarch, in saucepan.. Heat over med low heat until hot, stirring often. whisk in cornstarch mixture and heat until just bubbling and sauce thickens. Heat until thick but don't let it boil.

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Add chopped fresh parsley, basil, chives or other herbs as you like.

Also, super good with some sauteed veggies, mushrooms, chopped Kalamata olives or your fave vegetarian protein. Pour over pasta, rice or potatoes and ENJOY!!

Creamy Green Enchiladas

So I realize there are many, many versions (vegan and very NON-vegan) of green chile enchiladas out there, filled with all manner of whatever you want - but this just happens to be the recipe I've been making for my kids forever; it's easy, requested frequently, has many variations (using whatever veggies suit your fancy) and I thought perhaps it was worth sharing, especially since fresh, fire-roasted green chiles are showing up in New Mexico farmers markets about now and I'm SO jealous that I'm not there to indulge....

OK, so this recipe does tend to read like an endorsement for New Mexico chile peppers and products, (and it's one of the few recipes I depend so heavily on canned, packaged products since I can't actually GET freshly roasted green chiles easily - except when I'm lucky enough to be hanging out with my amazing friends in the Southwest) but I have to admit, canned enchilada sauce makes this recipe quick, easy, and delicious.

I DO know the Whole Foods stores in Seattle are starting to be all trendy and make a big deal of how they're roasting fresh Hatch chiles - if you happen to see them crank up the roaster, BUY SOME!!!

Seriously, I don't think you should use any other chiles if you want REALLY amazing enchiladas. I particularly like the creamy sauce in this recipe as it's rich enough that no fake-cheezy products are needed.

Green Chile Enchiladas

Sauce:

1 can Hatch Green Chile Enchilada sauce (use whatever green enchilada sauce you like, but this is, hands-down, a million times better than any other)
1 carton Better Than Sour Cream
OR use THIS RECIPE for tofu sour cream
1/4 cup soy/rice/whatever milk
1/4 cup minced white (or green) onions

Mix sour cream, enchilada sauce, soy milk and onions together and set aside. If you want, you can stir some additional chopped roasted green chiles into the sauce to taste. (see below)

Filling:

2 cups of your favorite veg. "chicken" product, shredded or chopped (gardein or Morning Star Meal Starters, for example)
OR use THIS RECIPE for tofu-style "chicken" (baked, not fried)
1/2 cup chopped, fire-roasted New Mexico green chiles (fresh, or I use the frozen Bueno Foods brand, you can use whatever aproximation you have available though canned ones are slimy and tasteless in my opinion)
1 cup cooked white beans
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 tsp. garlic salt or to taste
(optional) 1 cup cooked, chopped greens - spinach, chard or kale
(optional) 1 cup chopped, sauteed mushrooms, zucchini or summer squash
(optional) black olives

Mix filling ingredients together.

To assemble:

One by one, warm corn tortillas (or flour tortillas if you prefer) in an oiled frying pan until pliable, lay on clean plate and put several tablespoons of filling down the center and roll up. Place in 8 X 12 oiled glass or ceramic baking pan, seam side down. Continue until pan is full, you can "squish" the row of rolled enchiladas together as needed if you have lots of filling to use. If you have leftover filling, spoon it around the edges.

Cover with creamy green sauce, poking it down around all enchiladas so they're covered and surrounded.
Cover pan with foil.

Bake at 350 until hot and bubbly in center - about 45 min. Remove foil and broil JUST for a minute to get top a little brown.
Sprinkle with more cilantro and some minced onion, if desired, and serve.

Yummmmmmm!!

Beets!!

This salad was one of my favorites last summer, and now that I have buckets of beets from my Mamma's garden, I'm making it again. The mint gives it a new twist on the typical "beets and orange" flavor, and makes it SUPER yummy and refreshing.

You might try it even if you're not a huge beet fan, it could surprise you. It does require a bit of planning ahead, but the cooked beets can sit in the fridge several days 'till you're ready.
And by all means, ALWAYS use fresh (not canned) beets!

Baby Beets and Greens Summer Salad

4 cups baby spinach, baby arugula or mixed greens     (I used some purslane; even baby beet greens are nice here) 
10 - 12 baby beets 
1/4 cup toasted, chopped hazelnuts, pistachios or pecans 
1 orange, blood orange or two tangerines, peeled, sectioned and sliced 
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar 
1/4 tsp. salt 
1 bay leaf 
5 whole black peppercorns 
fresh ground black pepper

Vinaigrette

1/2 cup fresh orange, blood orange or tangerine juice 
1/4 cup maple, agave or brown rice syrup 
1/3 cup olive oil 
2 Tbsp. hazelnut or grapeseed oil (or olive oil) 
3 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar 
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint

In a saucepan place cleaned beets with enough water to cover. Add rice vinegar, bay leaf, peppercorns and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook until beets can be easily pierced with a knife. Remove from heat, strain beets and allow to cool. Cut beets in half or quarters and refrigerate until ready to use.

Vinaigrette:
Combine juice, syrup and rice vinegar in a bowl. Slowly drizzle oils in a steady stream while whisking continually to create an emulsion. Season with salt. Refrigerate until ready to use. Stir in chopped mint when ready to serve.

To Serve:

Lay greens on platter or in bowl. Scatter slices of oranges on top of greens. Sprinkle with nuts and beets. (Or arrange all fancy-like on individual plates, if that's your thing...)

Fresh ground black pepper to taste.

Drizzle with dressing.

Quinoa-Mint Salad

YAY! My mint has exploded in the cool shady spot I found for it, on the back patio at our new place. I've made gallons of tea and dried a good bit for winter. But today a salad seemed to be calling to me, and since I didn't really have ingredients for tabbouleh, I decided to make this quinoa salad instead.

If you've never tried quinoa, this is a super-easy recipe to start with, and it's SOO good! Quinoa is a lovely (and very nutritious) grain, actually a seed, that's tasty and fast to cook. Follow the directions on the box, that's all there is to it, I really don't have any amazing quinoa-cooking tips (sorry) but it's pretty fool-proof!
You can find quinoa in the grains or Natural Foods sections of most grocery stores.
Quinoa-Mint Salad

• 1 cup dry quinoa, cooked according to package directions. I do mine in my rice-cooker with excellent results.

• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 3 green onions, sliced with as much of the green part as is tender
• 1/3 cup, or more, chopped fresh peppermint leaves
• 1 clove garlic, crushed in garlic press
• Salt and lemon-pepper to taste
• chopped nuts (optional)

Cook quinoa according to package instructions until light and fluffy. Remove from heat and cool on a cookie sheet (this just helps it cool faster).

In a bowl, mix olive oil, garlic and lemon juice into quinoa. Add mint, salt and lemon-pepper, and mix well.

Sprinkle with chopped almonds or other nuts if you so desire. I just happened to have them on hand today.

Serve chilled or at room temp.

Vegan Pistachio Biscotti

Vegan Biscotti

While the rest of the country is melting under crazy, extreme heat, it seems the Pacific Northwest is stuck in the '70's. I do hope we have a few more days of hot, sunny weather, but I admit I'm enjoying being able to use my kitchen, and oven without completely exploding of heat exhaustion.
I happened upon some shelled pistachios today (thanks, Drew) and decided to use them in one of my favorite snack-cookie-things. Biscotti. Here's today's baking adventure, (inspired by my Auntie Jill who makes the best biscotti ANYWHERE)!

(Oh - and they're way easier than they seem - don't be intimidated by the lengthy directions.)

Nutty Biscotti:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups unbleached cane sugar
3/4 cup smooth unsweetened applesauce
1-3 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups nuts, (pecans, hazelnuts or pistachios) toasted and chopped
1/2 cup raisins or cranberries or chopped dried apricots

Preheat oven the 325.
Lightly oil two cookie sheets.
Use double layer shiny ones, if you have them.
If yours are very black, line them with foil. (As you'll notice in the pictures, haha, I forgot to do this)
In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt.
Ina medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, applesauce, oil (1TBS for a hard biscotti, 2-3 TBS for a softer biscuit), and extracts.
Stir the sugar mixture into the flour mixture, add the nuts, and fruit and finish mixing with your hands.
With floured hands, shape the dough into two 3-inch wide"logs" about 3/4 inch thick, with the ends squared off.
Place these on the cookie sheets.
Bake the logs for about 25 minutes.
Remove the pans and reduce the oven heat to 300F.
Cool the logs on a rack for 15 minutes. Cut the logs carefully with a sharp knife straight across into 1/2 inch wide slices.
Place the slices cut side down on the cookie sheets.
(you can remove the foil, if using.) Bake 5-10 minutes, or until golden on the bottom.
Turn the slices over and cook 5-10 minutes more, or until golden on bottom.
Cool on racks, then store airtight for up to two weeks

Simple Tofu-Zucchini Scramble

Weekend breakfast. Yum.

Tofu scramble with zucchini and herbs from the garden.

Since I'm a toast freak, we had to have some toasted Rudi's Organic Whole Wheat Bread, and a couple nectarines on the side - we're still getting the most beautiful nectarines from the Farmer's Market!

Tofu Scramble is about the easiest and most basic thing you can do with tofu (unless you want to eat it straight from the package!).

My kids love it and would eat it three times a day if I made it! It's quick, it's versatile; I can season it any way I like, and usually whatever veggies we have on hand get added as well. Serve it with toast, rolled in a burrito, on an English Muffin, in a taco, in a pita, or, of course (you know me) with gravy... Best. Vegan. Breakfast. Food. Ever.

Tofu Scramble With Garden Zucchini

1 lb firm water-packed tofu, patted dry and crumbled, mashed or cubed (your preference)
1/2 of a white onion, chopped (or 1/4 cup scallions)
2 small zucchini, chopped
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp turmeric powder - if you like it an "eggy" yellow
large handful of fresh basil,oregano and rosemary (or herbs of your choice); chopped finely
2 tsp. veggie "chicken-style" bullion powder
pinch of India Black Salt also called kala namak (Optional: but gives it a very authentic "eggy" taste! It may sound weird, but give it a try! Look for this seasoning next time you're at an Asian or Indian Market or order online.)
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying

Heat your skillet on medium. Add the oil - the amount needed depends on the type of pan you have. My cast-iron pan is well-seasoned and uses very little oil.
After a minute or two add tofu and veggies, and cook, stirring frequently to keep from sticking; until tofu has browned a bit, veggies have cooked thru and it has achieved your desired consistency.
Add nutritional yeast, vinegar, seasonings, herbs and spices.
Stir and cook a minute or two more.
I like it pretty dry and crumbly. If you prefer it more moist, you can add a few Tablespoons soy milk right at the end for "creamy" scrambled tofu.

You can add whatever seasonings you like, and whatever veggies as well. ANYTHING goes here!

Spicy, Pickled Raspberries

Pickled Raspberries!

I know, you're saying "WHAT???"

I said the same thing. OK, the original recipe called for strawberries, and I DO think that's a better option, because my berries basically fell apart into mush. But it was a fun and ever-so-tasty experiment.

The original recipe that caught my eye on Twitter, is here at the fabulous "Cook Local" blog: "Pickled, Spiced Strawberries and Scones".
I didn't make the scones.
And I didn't have strawberries, but DID have an overabundance of raspberries (I know, how is that possible!?!).
So, I didn't exactly follow the recipe, I'll tell you right up front! I'm not posting my own version though, I wasn't real precise with measurements and didn't take notes (unusual for me!!), so just check out their recipe for yourself, should you want to try it!!

And I apologize to the fine folk at "Cook Local" because one of my pet peeves is when someone takes one of my blog recipes, substitutes half the ingredients and then complains that the recipe didn't turn out right...Happily, this recipe DID turn out though, (apart from the berries not holding shape) even if I did make some substitutes...

First, obviously, I used raspberries. Then, I did not have the " jalapeño-infused-sugar" that this recipe calls for either, so I used more regular sugar and half a fresh habeñero pepper. I'm not sure how much more sugar, it was a rather inexact measure. And I hate cinnamon so I didn't use that either. And I only had two cups berries so I cut the recipe in half. And I ended up putting them all in one large jar. Because I didn't have small jars.

The end result? So fun!! Really pretty, and brilliant red, and very unique and sweet-spicy tasting. I put some on a salad with toasted pecans and chopped apple, beets and the baby greens my Mamma brought me last night. It made the salad a little juicy and dark red and messy and VERY un-photo-worthy, but SOOOOO good! You'll just have to trust me there.

I still have most of the jar left. I have no idea what I'll do with them, besides salads, but it'll be fun playing around.

Just thought I'd share my adventures!