Recent Great Stuff.

Time to be straight forward. Here's some stuff, that happened recently, that I deem great:

Tomato Season. I ate a tricolor pint of cherry and grape tomatoes for lunch the other day.

The Wednesday downtown farmers market. Mere block from my office.

Hands down, my favorite farmar.

Crazy-gluing that hand down - the Cafe Velo cart.

It's a smaller set up (this one is a bike! Oh, Portland) than the Saturday markets', with 400 fewer people on line with cute crying babies in front of you. Individually dripped cups of Stumptown, you choose the roast! I went with an Indonesian roast this past week.

Soymilk on the counter!!!!

Holding on the farmers market theme for one more addition: Pimientos de Padron. I can't let these go this summer. These were sauteed classicly with olive oil, coarse sea salt and crushed red pepper.

I brought the above peppers to the Try Vegan Week Potluck & Trivia night, along with these cookies from the upcoming Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.

Citrus Glitters

Heading back to test kitchen land, I've started testing for Isa's upcoming 'healthy' book. I am so freaking busy lately, but if I'm making a point to cook at home, odds are it will be her recipes. It's just how life is.

Summer Lovin' Curried Corn Chowder

Moving on from corn, to corn - the down home, smoked corn on the cob from Homegrown Smoker Vegan BBQ. If you've read my Stumptown Vegans review, you know I'm quite fond of them. They've recently labeled quite a few main items gluten free, and I swear, their home cooking style food is better every single time I go.

From corn to......pizza! Because sometimes Hot Lips puts corn on their pizza..... At this week's Yelp Portland Ballroom Bash. Here's Maeve with the vegan foccacia pie Don personally delivered to the table of awesome Yelpy vegans.

The Yelp Elite Hour & Ballroom Bash was super fun! I'm not a huge Hot Lips fan, and I despise their cilantro pesto, but how cool! I was able to get a tomato base slice a bit earlier, fortunately for my tastebuds and sanity, had I been induling in more of the complimentary beverages.

Oh hey, walking across the Morrison Bridge safely for once, thanks to construction, is pretty great. And random.

And really, really great - a veganized Vermecilli Bowl from Huong's Vietnamese cart downtown. He has other vegetarian options that are alright, but I've been wanting to request a vegan version of the pork or chicken bowl for too long! So, I finally did. He even volunteered a summer roll for the eggroll before I could even think to ask. I'm on a rice noodle kick.

It was tasty, and HUGE! And $6! It had fried tofu strips and this strange white gluten, which was good stuff.

All in all, Really Great Stuff.

VeganTwitNic #2, Check

We had the second ever VeganTwitNic yesterday in Colonel Summers Park in SE Portland. Nice showing, delicious food, no rain, relaxing in the sun, breaks in the shade, classic picnic times. There was even a watermelon, I kid you not.

I brought Gluten Free Mac & Cheeze with Broccoli

Maeve brought a refreshing raw kale salad, there was a gazpacho like dip, savoury tofu with prunes & olives, rice, gluten free lasagna, dessert and more.

Fruit, coconut pudding and cake parfait!

Part of the spread

I give up trying to make my plate look more than somewhat presentable at potlucks.

Quick stop at Food Fight! this weekend for soap, new Flameboy mango hot sauce, Cheddar Cheezly (some of it went into the mac!) and nectarines, suspiciously not pictured.

All the normal things I replenish.

Now I'm off to embark on Day #1 of Dittering week!

Three Updates! One Local, One Travel & One Ridiculously Internet Based

Portland area folks with an interest in vegan gluten free baking - you're in luck!  

• My friend Chelsea of Flavor Vegan is teaching a Gluten Free Baking Class on Thursday April 16th at 7pm at the Sunnyside Church in SE.  It is being presented by Try Vegan PDX and more details are available here.  She's a passionate vegan chef and if I was in town, I'd be there!  There is certainly an art to gluten free baking and she knows her flours.  Please sign up in advance.

• I will, however, be on my vacation to Boston and New York City till the end of the month to see family and friends.  

My scheduled stops for Boston includes Grasshopper (duh), Grezzo, Bagel Rising and a bunch of places I'm forgetting.

As for NYC, I'm stopping by Babycakes, Vegetarian Dim Sum House, Stogo, Lulu's and hopefully Counter...and a million places more.  Shoot suggestions my way!

• My ridiculously internet based update is of course, twitter.  I've had a personal account since the summer and recently made a get sconed! that you can add here if you like.  It is updated with new posts, dining finds and randomness related to my vegan life in Portland.
  

And in recent dinner updates, last night I grilled homemade seitan in BBQ sauce and served it noochy roasted potatoes and sorta coconut rice.   Go grill pan!

A Peek at Portobello Vegan Trattoria

Open less than a month, Portobello Vegan Trattoria is becoming quite the immediate hit among Portland vegans.  I joined friends for my first meal there last night, and will be dining with another group for a family style dinner this weekend.  

After last night's luscious dinner, I'm ridiculously stoked to return so quickly, try more and support this new vegan establishment in such annoying economic times.  

Let me say that I grew up eating Italian food more than any other, and fresh vegan pasta at a restaurant in town, let alone in walking distance to my apartment, is in itself a thrill.  

Here's a peek at what my table ordered:

Small plate of Portabello Ravioli with Walnut Arulgula Pesto.

Side of Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Beet Appetizer

Pickled plate appetizer

Small plate of Gluten-free Spaghetti squash with one giant meatball

Ham and Scheese wrapped Seitan

Side of Roasted Pumpkin with Rosemary

Side of Garlic Broccolini

Lasagna

Believe it, we didn't order any desserts!  Don't panic - Tiramisu will be enjoyed this weekend.

Look for an official review in the next month on StumptownVegans.com when they've been open a bit longer.  

For now, enjoy the Italian food porn and check them out if you're in the Portland area.  

They're open Wednesday-Saturday 5:30-10:30pm and are located at 2001 SE 11th Ave, in the same location as the excellent Cellar Door Coffee Roasters, who are open during the day.

Dharma Initiative Brand Cake

My AWESOME friend Katie Jane made this for the AWESOME Season Five Premiere of LOST. And she took the photo.

It was entirely gluten free, with chocolate cake and Peanut Butter and vanilla frosting and filling.

I had fun putting Dharma Initiative Brand labels on everything in sight for the viewing.  I downloaded them from the Max Pictures website, thanks!

Altogether we had Dharma cake, scones, muffins, Smokey Boar Dogs with Zukay Live Foods Horseradish and Garlic Dill Relish, Mr. Cluck's Secret Recipe Almond and Potato Chip baked chicken seitan and tofu, Ethan's Island Chips and Salsa (Mild Zukay - it's delish!), Dharma Composite Ranch Dip with veggies and potato chips and Is Jin Dead? Korean Style Kale.  The numbers were all over one wall, and Dharma station symbols were on another.

The goods.  

Thanks Farrell for the photos!

Rations Table

It wasn't flat!  If only Sawyer was there...

Zelda with the main rations station behind her.

NO SPOILERS.  

I've spent the past month and a half re-watching seasons 1-4, and watching the 3-hour premiere last night was positively zany.

ho

Best Wishes to all during the end of December 2008!  I don't really celebrate anything myself, besides time off from work and the possibility of snow - and Portland had a White Christmas!!

According to the National Weather Service Forecast Office, this was an event - the probability of it happening was less than 0.08%.  End of the world, thanks!  It's now turned to rain and in the 40s again, but I was happy for real, inches of snow while it lasted and extra time away from work.  I really don't hate my job, I just prefer not being there.  Shocker.

Bittersweet chocolate and peanut butter tofu mousse

Food wise, I've been soaking beans, eating Thai, baking cookies and playing with my

new Vita-Mix.  Recently I learned that I could turn my homemade Roasted Garlic and Red Wine Marinara into tomato sauce silk.  I also took 3/4 of a block of silken tofu and blended it with chunks of bittersweet chocolate, almond milk, peanut butter, vanilla and a little bit of sugar to see if it would mousse it up, and it absolutely did.  No need to melt the chocolate beforehand! I let it set in the fridge for a couple hours and then enjoyed this vegan classic.

Chili sin Carne ala Mole - from Vegan with a Vengeance

Using soaked small red beans and black beans, I made this recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance.  I used the last of my locally made Cast Iron Seitan sample and added carrots and yellow bell pepper.  I've never had seitan in chili before and call me a fan.  

This was my Christmas eve dinner above - with a Full Sail Limited Edition Lager Recipe #1 and side of gluten free cornbread.  The only gluten free part of the meal was based on the Veganomicon recipe, using Bob's Red Mill gluten free baking mix for the flour.

Vegan Lunch Special Soup from Pad Thai Kitchen

On Christmas Eve, I ended up meeting a few friends for lunch at Pad Thai Kitchen on SE Belmont.  It's proven to be a reliably vegan friendly Thai restaurant.  

Vegan Pad Thai lunch special, with tofu and vegetables

Citrus Glitters 

From the Isa and Terry Vegan Cookie Book test kitchen - 

here's a slide show of what I've made so far.

Almond Soy Latte from Tiny's in SE Portland.

Snow Serpent from another time...

V-I-T-A L-O-V-E & Snow day Love

Ladies and Gentleman, I've been using a Vita-Mix. I know, my life is changing!

I have found myself complaining when pureed soups aren't quite smooth and I encounter a teeny piece of noticeable onion or fresh herb, and this baby is smoothing things out in every way possible. Vita Mix users - share your ways with me! I'm sure to be documenting my usage here.

Veganomicon's Creamy Tomato Soup

Chunky

Smoothy

Vita-Mix, you rule for sending this to me for review! The biggest perk of being a food blogger, ever.

Snowed In - Lower Fat Gluten Free Mac and Cheeze - Leftovers Edition

Making Snow Angel Dogs this weekend...

comforty gluten-free vegan mac and cheeze.

Gluten Free Mac and Cheeze with Broccoli

Despite a fondness for vegetables and garlic, I had a embarrassingly bland appetite growing up. I sidestepped the constant Italian meals of my childhood with a hatred of marinara sauce and ate a ton of noodles with butter and cheese. I know that American children aren't known for their palates, but I was somehow even wary of traditional and boxed macaroni and cheese! Let's blame the orange color and the presence of fancier cheeses in my house.

The infamous blue box wasn't a part of my diet until college. Once I learned the wonder of mac and cheese, I became a devotee, and remain so as a vegan. I'll even publicly mention my love for the (still bland) convenient 123s and Chreese of my later college years, that I still pick up from time to time. On Thanksgiving, I made for the second time a gluten free version of the lower fat adaptation of the acclaimed New Farm Mac and Cheeze I posted last year here.

I went to a small and predominately gluten-free dinner at a friend's house for Tday and was worried the dish might seem boring, but it went over well and I thought it looked beautiful - you know, for mac and cheeze.

Pre-baked

I've been sick of wheat pasta for a while now, and really dig how ridged rice pasta can stand up in this baked dish. I legitimately find myself preferring it with rice pasta. I never saw that day coming over a year ago. It was a really easy dish to make gluten free - it doesn't quite warrant a new post with that simplicity, but for clicking's sake, I'll post it here:

PLEASE SEE HERE FOR THE RECIPE ON THE NEW GET SCONED!

In other vegan comforty news, Vitasoy Peppermint Chocolate Soymilk has competition. Or a friend - on store shelves.

I tried the new Westsoy version at my friend's house on Thanksgiving and knew I'd have to get some for myself soon - thank you People's Coop for having it for $1.99!

It's even sweeter and peppermint-y than the Vitasoy I stashed all summer. It's at least temporaily my new favorite.

Does anyone else enjoy saying "glutey free"?