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Portland Vegan 100

Originally from Get Sconed.

Here's how it works:

1)    Copy this list into your own blog, facebook or website, including these instructions. (You can find a clean list without all the messy html here.)

2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.

3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

4) Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.

5) Pass it on!

The PDX Vegan Hundred: 100 Great Foodz in Portland, OR

1. Fries with spicy tofu sauce at Dots
2. $1 Corndog from Hungry Tiger Too
3. Chick-o-Stick doughnut from Voodoo Doughnuts—I don’t like Chick-o-Sticks.
4. Tiramisu from Portobello
5. Vegan Mulita from Gorditos or Gorditos II
6. Nanotear Ham and Cheeze sandwich from Tube
7. Milkshake from Sip—at the Let Live Conference
8. Gnocchi from Portobello
9. Caramel Nut Bar from Sweetpea Baking Co.
10. Soft serve from Blossoming Lotus
11. Local cherry tomatoes from a farmers market—cherry tomatoes kinda freak me out
12. Dong Po Tofu from Bay Leaf
13. Jerked chickun from Assase Ital
14. A Big Big Lunch Special from an Indian cart
15. Soy latte made with Stumptown espresso—I want one right now!
16. A crappy tofu scramble
17. Cornmeal pizza from Dovi Vive
18. Weeping Tiger sandwich from Bye & Bye
19. Bye & Bye or Floor Punch from Bye & Bye
20. A Bowl meal from a cart—Sonny Bowl--YUM
21. vegan nutella from freddy's hazelnuts—Garrett’s Not-tella is the best though!
22. soy curls in bulk from food fight or proper eats
23. buffalo wings from Vita—the Spicy Vegan’s buffalo wings blow Vita’s out of the water
24. the weekday vegan pancakes from Laurelthirst
25. Maple vegan sausage waffle from flavourspot—I even got a ROTD from Yelp about how much I love this one!
26. Drunken noodles with pepper steak from Thai Food Cafe
27. Macnocheeto from Homegrown Smoker
28. Veggie platter from an Ethiopian restaurant
29. Blackberries picked from a public place
30. Baba Ganouj from Ya Hala—Holla!
31. Coconut Mashed Yams from Papa G’s
32. Butternut Squash Wontons from Hungry Tiger Too
33. Vegan slice from Bella Faccia
34. Apple pie from Whiffies
35. Chili dog from Zach’s Shack—I really want to try one!
36. Vegan poutine from Potato Champion
37. Missionary Chocolate Truffle
38. Apron Activists 4-Course Dinner
39. Hot Wok at New Seasons
40. Che Guevara Burrito from Laughing Planet—not really a fan of plantains.
41. Bryan’s Bowl from Por Que No?
42. Pad Thai from Pad Thai Kitchen
43. Cupcake from a stand at Last Thursday
44. The Giant Pancake at Hungry Tiger Too
45. TLP from Red & Black Cafe
46. Cornmeal tempeh plate from Proper Eats
47. Tofu Po Boy at Palm State Gumbo
48. Maple Walnut Scone from Back to Eden
49. Vegan Mezza platter from a Lebanese restaurant
50. Crispy eggplant from Fujin
51. Lemongrass Tofu Sticks from Van Hanh—That sounds amazing though.
52. Tofu Salad Bun at Pho PDX
53. Cocktail made with local liquor­—Hot Monkey, anyone?
54. Biscuits and Gravy from Paradox
55. Smoky soy curls from Homegrown Smoker
56. Field Roast sausage
57. Secret Aardvark Hot Sauce
58. Toddbot's Triangles—I don’t think I know what this is.
59. Local microbrew—Considering I managed a Brewpub for 2 years, I’d say I’ve had more than my fair share of microbrews.
60. Hot Lips soda
61. Herb Crusted Tofu with Mushroom Marsala from The Farm Cafe
62. had a picnic in Laurelhurst Park—I’ve never even BEEN to Laurelhurst Park.
63. burrito from Shelley's Honkin Huge Burritos
64. Eggplant tibs from Bete Lukas
65. Tator Tots before noon or after midnight
66. Lone Ranger from Chaos Cafe
67. Sunday brunch at Sweetpea!
68. Tofu at a BBQ place (for example Derby Mustard Sauce Tofu at Russel Street BBQ)
69. Mint Fava Falafel at Nightlight Lounge
70. An unexciting hummus plate at a bar.
71. Vegan meatball sub from Aalto Lounge
72. Koi Fusion spicy tofu tacos
73. Veggie dog from the Vegi dog stand
74. Sesame chicken from a vegetarian chinese restaurant
75. Bagel with Bacun Scallion cream cheese from Sweetpea
76. Vegan savoury crepe—I just had one last night from Portobello.

Buckwheat with seaweed cavier.
77. Veggie kibbeh
78. Club Vegan at Backspace
79. Ice cream sundae from Back to Eden
80. Raw fudge from Blossoming Lotus
81. Tempeh reuben
82. Pause vegan burger
83. vegan ribs
84. something baked with local marionberries
85. Veggie bento box
86. Dave's Killer Bread
87. Higher Taste Buzzitos
88. Thai food that the server swears is vegan, but you taste fish sauce.
89. Elephant ear from the Saturday Market
90. Dovetail sticky bun
91. savoury pie from Nicholas restaurant
92. Salad rolls from the Just Thai cart
93. Vegan torta from Gorditos II
94. Nutritional Vegan torta from Gorditos II—what’s the difference between #93 and #94?
94. yeast on your popcorn at a movie theater
95. Vegan grilled cheese from The Grilled Cheese Grill
96. Pasilla burrito from El Nutri
97. Something from the vegetarian menu at Andina
98. Vegan Steak and Cheese from D.C. Vegetarian
99. Dragon Noodles at Red & Black Cafe

100. Falafel from Wolf & Bears

Turkey Food Porn Part 3

Part One and Part Two

 

          Turkey is one of the only places in the world that is completely self-sustaining. Just some of the plants I saw while there: Pistachio trees, olive trees, orange trees, pomegranate trees, pumpkins, potatoes, wheat and carob. Not to mention mountains of herbs and spices. If they suddenly could not import any food, they would actually be totally okay. I consumed two things while I was there that I didn't see in it's whole form: peach and cherry juices and jams. And just because I didn't see them doesn't mean they perhaps grow in another region.

So you can imagine--the food and drink is just simple and hearty and whole. And while it wasn't hard in the slightest to eat a vegan diet while in Turkey, there was one night that was surprisingly easy.

These are all vegan and raw:

Raw bread served with 3 raw cheeses (made out of nuts), tapanade, and a fresh salsa.

Apple coconut cake with caramel sauce and tahini ice cream.

A simple scoop of chocolate ice cream

Surprised? Istanbul is a very modern and cosmopolitan city, especially once you venture out of Sultanamet, or Old Town. It actually has a number of vegan restaurants. This particular one we went to had about 30 things go wrong on our trip there and on our arrival--it's a funny store (now).

Anyway, it was mostly delicious and an interesting experience. :)

POMEGRANATE JUICE--a story in pictures.

 

Ta Da! Fresh Pomegranate juice!

This was actually the one that I tried to make into my Ode to Turkey cocktail: the Burkatini. Fresh pomegranate juice (very Turkish), Raki (the drink made with brandy and anisette--VERY Turkish), and mineral water. 

It was absolutely disgusting. I guess I won't try to splatter burkatinis on menus all across Turkey now.

TURKISH TEA

Turkish tea is everywhere. Everyone drinks turkish tea, all the time. You don't see kids with soda cans or professionals with Starbucks; you see everyone with hot tea served in a little tulip glass.

 

 

 Yes, they actually serve tea on the bus. Do you love Turkey yet?

 

This was common to see outside shops--tea is delivered on little trays to shop proprietors, who drink it up then leave it outside for pick-up.

And of course there's Turkish Coffee:

It's typically served in these little cups on these little saucers.

How to make Turkish Coffee

You can use any kind of coffee for Turkish Coffee, it's really just the way of preparing it. You cook together coffee, sugar and water, then strain out the particles as you pour. There's always a little sludge left in the bottom of your cup--don't drink it! It's not expected, don't worry. Everyone leaves a little bit.

Here's one of my favorites drinks: Banana tea! I brought some home, don't worry. It tastes like warm instant banana pudding. Yum.

Okay, I still have several pictures, but I will close with this one:

Because what food journey of Turkey would be complete without heaps of spices from the Egyptian Spice Market in Istanbul?

Turkey Food Porn Part 2

For part one of this post see here.

Efes is the national beer. Everybody drinks Efes. It is light and delicious.

Corn sold on the street corner is the norm. It's steamed then coated in salt.

Shelley and I tried some in Kaş. It sadly has nothing on our succulent sweet northwest corn. We didn't even finish it.

Cherry, Peach, and Apricot juice are everywhere. Everywhere and delicious.

 

A traditional Turkish breakfast:

 

Turkish tea (more on that in the next post), cucumbers, olives, bread, and jam. Not pictured: tomatoes, which I had already ate, and it usually also comes with a hard boiled egg and a piece of cheese. Variations of this were for breakfast every single day in Turkey. I would make a sandwich out of cucumber and tomato, throwing an olive or two on there if they were included that day, then have a few slices of bread with cherry or apricot jam. So simple, but so good!

Water in Turkey is unsanitary to drink. Unfortunately, when there traveler's have to purchase bottle after bottle of water. This was a delivery outside a shop in Kaş.

In addition to Pistachio trees, Turkey also has olive trees. Random fact: olives are not good to eat right off the tree. You must soak them in a salty brine first, sometimes for months, before  they're ready to eat.

 

 Random fact: Knowing this did NOT stop me from trying one.

It was disgusting.

One of the best meals I had. The setting could have had something to do with it. Eating a vegan lunch after a quick swim in the salty Mediterranean and a quick climb over centuries-old ruins will really work up a girl's appetite.

 

Salad, cooked green beans and tomatoes, and rice with garbonzo beans. Again, simple yet delicious. Sense a theme here?

 This guy is awesome. Those are sesame bagels on top of his head. He offered to let us take a picture, then made us buy two of his stupid stale bagels. Typical. :)

 

Shelley and I were starving and so tired of everyone yelling at us and following us down the street to come into their restaurant. All the restaurants in the strip served pretty much exactly the same thing. We stopped here, and actually met 2 really nice guys--our waiter and the host. They wanted to take us out dancing, but I think they misjudged these 2 Americans.

Rather than go dance in a club, we went back to our hotel and played cards and drank wine. :P

 

Our 20 dolla bloody marys at Istanbul Airport. Well, they were 20 lira, but that's like 17 dollars. We each had 2 then bolted for the plane, hoping they would help us sleep. (They didn't.)

 

Stay tuned for the 3rd and final installment!

Turkish Food Porn...part 1

Oh, hello. What's that? Where have I been? Oh, I just took a little trip to Turkey, one of the most amazing places in the entire world. How was it? Well, quite spectacular, thank you for asking. 

 The library in Ephesus

Seriously, Turkey is a beautiful conflicted modern historical western eastern fantastical place. For those of you who've been lucky enough to go, you know what I'm talking about. For those of you who haven't, consider it.

I went with my good friend Shelley. We were gone for 12 days, but it honestly felt like a lifetime. We packed so much in and experienced so many wonderful people and sights and food and, let's be honest, quite a few crappy bus rides, that it felt like we were gone forever.

We used Istanbul as our jumping off point, flying directly down to Antalya when we first arrived in Turkey.

Antalya is a city on the Mediterranean coast of Southwest Turkey with gorgeous Ottoman houses, cobblestone streets (in Kaleici, or Old Town) and a breathtaking museum with artifacts dating as far back as 9000 BC. Do you know how old that is? I still can't even quite wrap my mind around it.That's pretty much the beginning of time as we know it.

9000 BC is when the Mediterranean was first settled. 1,000 years before dogs were domesticated; before the glaciers melted and the Ice Age happened. People were barely making huts and weapons. This is 9,000 years before Jesus was all, "Hey guys, whassup? My mom's a virgin and I'm a messiah."

Anyway, I was going to have 2 parts to my Turkish food posts--the first half of the trip followed by the second. I think I'll break it down even smaller however. There's a lot to get through! 

This is going to be pretty much straight food photos; for landscape and people and ancient ruins and swimming in the Mediterranean, I've got to figure out Flickr or something. Stay tuned.

Without further ado, my chronological food journey in Turkey:

This was an $11 order of chips and guac from the JFK airport. Silly looking and silly tasting, but it hit the spot.

To offset the fried-ness, we also split a salad:

I had cognac as soon as we arrived at the airport in Istanbul. Shelley and I had already been traveling for about 24 hours, and we had another 6 or so to go... I have no idea why I chose cognac; I blame it on the lack of sleep. I also ordered "Potato Croquettes" for something like 15 lira, which just happened to be about 6 tator tots. Sigh. No picture; I was too hungry and inhaled them all before I could take a picture.

We got into Antalya, and after A LOT of walking around, backpack-loaded, we found a dingy little pansion (like a hostel, but nicer, cuter, and a touch more expensive).

So many of the cafes in Kaleici are set in the garden, with grape leaves above you and cobblestone below you. Shelley and I were exhausted, but stopped in one and tried our first Raki. Similar to Ouzo, Raki is grape brandy infused with anisette. Once you add water (which you have to do, unless you want a wicked hangover) it turns cloudy. Cool.

Ali, the owner, was super sweet and kept bringing us fresh jasmine flowers, basil leaves, and then 2 fresh oranges. The oranges are very small and actually green on the outside. And DELICIOUS on the inside. :)

This is Ali:

Cute, huh?! He loved this picture. :)

We made our way back to our dingy little room and fell fast asleep. In the morning, after a semi-hilarious conversation with a woman who spoke no english, and my turkish even worse, Shelley and I decided to skip the breakfast she was trying to tell us about and just head on. While waiting for the tram, we had our first cup of fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice.

Yep, it was pretty yummers.

----

And that's it for part 1! There are better quality photos and yummier-looking things coming up, I promise.

Hope everyone had a super time while I was gone!

Vegan MoFo Quiz

 I'm jumping on the Vegan MoFo Quiz Bandwagon. I'm not actually participating, but I love quizzzzzzzes.

This is an amalgamation of several. It's a little long, but bear with me, as I won't be posting while I'm traveling through Turkey.

1. Favorite non-dairy milk?

ALMOND. Absolutely. 100%. Unless I'm cooking--almond milk is occasionally a touch too sweet (even the plain variety) to cook with. Then I'll do soy.

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook? 

I just made 2 dishes today: chocomole and raw chocolate chip cookies. I'm also planning on making a cookie dough nessiebar. A nessiebar is like a larabar, but cheaper, homemade-r, and delicious-er.  And not owned by General Mills.

3. Topping of choice for popcorn? 

Is this a serious question? YEAST YEAST YEAST. The darling yellow nutritional yeast goes on pretty much every thing I make, but I don't think I could even eat popcorn if there weren't liberal amounts of yeast coating each kernel.

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?

I will go back to 4th grade. I got confused with a cake recipe. I put in 2 cups of baking powder rather than 2 teaspoons. That's why children should never cook. Kidding. Mostly. The kitchen counter was a huge mess. So was the compost pile. Sorry, mom.

5. Favorite pickled item?
Pickles. Well, I guess that's technically a cucumber. I don't really like pickled-anything-else.

6. How do you organize your recipes?

Org-a-nize? What's that? 

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?

Are we talking about what we call my mouth? All three. 

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be?

MEXICAN!!!!!!!!! Can that be one? Like, burritos, tacos, nachos, wraps.... 

Or, what about beans--I would bring garbonzo beans (hummus and not-tuna); soybeans (edamame and tofu); pinto beans, black beans, and human beans (ha! Need some lovin, right?)

 9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?

All inclusive: growing up vegetarian. I love knowing I've never eaten a hamburger.

I remember one time a teacher was trying to illustrate a point in elementary school. She asked us what meatloaf was made from. I raised my hand, wildly waving it back and forth. She called on me.

I proudly shouted, "Vegetables!"

After the laughter ceased, I was told that other moms actually put animals in their meatloaf. Weird, right?

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?

Mmmmmmmmmmm. Ice cream........  Anything as long as there is no fruit in it.

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?

Vita-Mix. Followed by Food Processor. Followed by tongs. (Do tongs count?)

12. Spice/herb you would die without?

Cumin. Chili Powder. Garlic. Thyme. Black Pepper. 

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time? 

Linda McCartney's vegetarian cookbook. I found out what an aubergine was in high school due to this book. Hint: it’s an eggplant.

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?

Any kind my mom makes. Blackberry and Rose are probably my ultimate ultimates.

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?

My Mac and Cheese. Or really, anything. There are so many good vegan recipes out there!

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?

Probably tofu. It is so versatile. But I sure do love seitan.

17. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.

·         Raw chocolate chip cookies

·         Bananas

·         Some broth/soup/green weird stuff that didn't turn out like I wanted months ago so I stuck it in the freezer. Hopefully I'll get desperate/broke enough to do something with it sometime.

18. What's on your grocery list?

Currently: agave. spinach. tortillas. yeast. cashews. pita bread.

19. Favorite grocery store?

Fred Meyer's. Totally. Followed by Whole Foods (don't hate me, but I love Whole Foods.) I really don't like Safeway (Ralph's, to all you Californians).

20. Name a recipe you'd love to veganize, but haven't yet.

Panna Cotta

21. Food blog you read the most.

Choosing Raw, Happy Herbivore, Get Sconed

22. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate? 

Go Max Go and Dandies

25.  What criteria do you use when choosing a new cookbook to buy?

I just like to read cookbooks. Often when I want a recipe, I just google it and then adapt as I go. So cookbooks are more like novels to me. Must be well-written with nice pictures and some inspiring ideas.

26.  What did you eat today? 

I’m glad you asked. I made a quesadilla for lunch. I used a whole wheat tortilla, daiya cheese, seasoned whole pinto beans, tofutti sour cream, romaine lettuce, hot sauce, and yeast. It was outstanding. Then I sampled the chocomole pudding and the raw vegan chocolate chip cookies as I was making them.

27.  Name a vegan food that you know exists but you have never tried.

Anything from Pure in NYC.

28.  The Food Network just called and needs you to start your new show tomorrow.  What will the title of the show be?

The Epicurious Vegan. (duh)

29.  Favorite hot sauce or other spicy condiment?

Secret Aardvark or Cholululula.

30.  Favorite vegan cheeze? 

Honestly? Homemade cheese sauce using cashews and yeast.

31.  Cutest baby animal?

Wombats!

32.  Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?

I think this question should read, “Coffee, tea, or me?”

33.  It's 10PM and you're starving.  What do you eat?

Popcorn. Or something with beans and a tortilla.

34.  When you have a food-related question, who do you call?

My mom. Back-ups would include: Garrett, The Spicy Vegan, Tyler Thrasher.