Best. Pie. Ever.

Here's the recipe for the best pie you will ever eat. Don't worry; it's super easy. And super-er delicious.

Vegan Smore's Pie

* 1 vegan graham cracker crust 

* 1 container Nasoya Silken Creations--dark chocolate (yes, this is tofu. Get over it.)

* 1/2 bag Chicago Soy Dairy Dandies

* 1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks ( I use Fred Meyer's brand)

* 2 tsp cornstarch

* 1 vegan graham cracker crust 

 

That's it.

Preheat oven to 350.

If you have a Vita Mix, throw the first four ingredients into it. Blend for about 30 seconds. Add chocolate chunks, blend for another 10 seconds. Pour everything into the pie crust. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

If you don't have a Vita Mix: A: Get one! B: combine corn starch with 1 Tablespoon of water and mix together. Then throw chocolate tofu, dandies, and cornstarch into your blender or food processor. Blend til smooth. Add chocolate chunks. Pour everything into pie crust. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

Top with Dandies. Put it in the fridge for 2 hours.

Variations:

This might sound weird, but I added a scoop of my Chocolate Amazing Meal to the tofu mixture. It's chocolate flavored and is pretty much a scoop of health and nutrition and slightly-less guilt. It almost makes the pie healthy, right? Right?!

Invite people over. Seriously. If you don't, you may find yourself eating an entire pie. Nobody wants that. Not even your dentist.

I know the picture qualities aren't good, but trust me on this. This pie is delicious. It thickens up nicely; it tastes like campfires and friends and happiness; it has vegan marshmallows in it (!); it's easy; it's a great potluck dish; and did I mention it's delicious?

Go make it. Now.

CultureMob: MusicFest NW

I recently accepted the Portland City Editor position for CultureMob, a website that guides folks to all the cultural hub-ub.


I wrote my first article on the upcoming Musicfest NW.

You may remember my blog entries about it last year. If not, here's some reminders:

Here and here and here. My favorite is all the tequila I had. Sheesh. What was I thinking? I'll never do that again. (Until September 16th. Ha.)

And one of my favorite pictures/memories from last year:

I just published my first post today. Check it out here.

Please and thanks!


PS I'm making a S'more Pie tonight. I don't want to eat it. (I don't have dental insurance anymore! Gotta watch those cavities.) Let me know if you want it.

"Gardein" of Eden

           I've been hearing about Gardein products for awhile now. I'm sure you have too. They're all vegan (unlike Quorn or some Morningstar and Boca brands that contain egg) and made by the Garden Protein International Company based in Canada, eh.

The ingredients are a mixture of wheat gluten, soy and pea protein, and natural flavors.

There are a few different kinds on the market, including a "beef,"  "chicken" and "pork". I bought the BBQ Pulled Shreds and the Veggie Chick'n Bites in a Provencale Marinade.

            I have to admit, I was a little trepadacious when I bought them. I typically try to stick to a whole foods diet. I'd rather eat beans and veggies and bread and fruit then eat complicated replications of animal-based foods. That said, there is one huge benefit for this product. Many people transitioning to whole- or part-time vegetarianism need transition foods. It's a lot easier to cook up some Gimme Lean soy sausage for in the morning than to make a hippy-dippy lentil loaf. Vegetarian and Vegan diets take time, and ease of transition. Companies like Gardein do a huge deal of good in easing the casual meat eater into an animal-free diet. 

            Especially with the bloooming-in-popularity Meatless Mondays, having great tasting options for meat-free meals is pretty  neccessary. 

             So, how did they taste?

I tried the chick'n bites first. 

VEGGIE CHICK'N BITES

       I'm definitely a carbohydrate-lovin' girl, so naturally I had to try it first with some pasta.

         I simply cooked up some capativi noodles, steamed some broccoli, then sauteed them together with the chick'n bites.

          It was remarkably easy. I threw in a sprinkling of nutritional yeast (of course) and a few cranks of fresh-ground pepper. 

This is what it looked like: 

 

  

Close up:

            Yep. That's right. My lunch yesterday was DELICIOUS. The chick'n heated up in about 4 minutes. There's 2 servings per package, which was perfect. I ate my leftovers for dinner.

          I haven't eaten any part of chickens in over 20 years, so I don't remember what they taste like, but I don't think this was too similar. It just tasted like nice herbs and spices and had a good chewy texture. 

BBQ SHRED SANDWICH 

 

            Today I stopped by Whole Foods to pick up some buns for my BBQ pulled shreds experiment. I found a pack of four Delphina's panini rolls. Which, I just want to say right here, are amazing. I love them. I want to eat them all the time. Sooooo good. Delphina is a Portland-based bakery. I've never tried their baked goods before, but these rolls are seriously serious. Seriously super. Since I only needed one, I put the other 3 in the freezer to use later. I don't want these to get moldy!

 

         So simple to make. Can you read the writing? It says, "Heat and load up on a bun..." Easy-peasy. 

           I toasted my Delphina's bun while heating the bbq shreds up on the stove. After the bun was toasted, I spread some Earth Balance on one side (and nutritional yeast, of course) and some Wildwood Garlic Aioli on the other. I had to ask my roommate, "People eat mayo with pork sandwiches, right?" (He answered, "Some people eat mayo with everything." Ha!)

Threw some spinach on that bad boy, and watch out: 

         That first picture is a little blurry, sorry. I think my hand was shaking from hunger. 

            The texture was super similar to the chick'n bites. I'm not sure if they use the same ingredients and ratio for the protein part and just change the sauce, but that's what it seemed like to me.

       The bbq sauce was definitely of  the sweeter variety. I think I'm personally fond of more of a smokey or spicy taste, but the sweet flavor worked pretty well. 

This sandwich was super. Simply delicious. It was moist and toasty and filling and pretty much perfect.

          Both these Gardein products are super easy to make, taste amazing, and are enough to serve two. The only drawback is they are rather expensive--it's about $4 for one packet. That's too much for me to buy very often, but when I have an animal-eater friend come over for a meal, these will perfect meal-helpers. 

         Have you tried any Gardein products? Leave a comment and let me know what you think about them.

Vita Cafe Food Porn

The Vita Cafe has some kick-ass eats. Want some examples?

Mac and Cheese with tempeh:

 

Holy crap. Best vegan mac and cheese (other than *cough* my own) I've had. Big portion, excellently flavored "cheese", and big fat noodles. You can also get broccoli as an option, which I'd recommend.

What happens when the Aardvark Sauce lid isn't screwed on tightly:

Yikes! This looks like something The Spicy Vegan would like.

And I know the Vita has all this deep-fried, buffalo-style, gravy-intense wonders of vegan food, but their SUPERGRAIN SALAD is so freakin' good I have a hard time getting anything else.

Black and white quinoa, tempeh bacon crumbles, red peppers, currants, pumpkin seeds and guacamole with carrot ginger or lemon tahini dressing. (I always choose the lemon tahini.)

 

I know, right?! YUM!

This one was missing the tempeh bacon (I had one tiny little delicious morsel in the whole salad) but it's so good! In fact, I don't think the dressing is even necessary with the gaucamole, but hey, it adds a nice tang.

And their daily soups come with the most amazing sweet onion bread:

 

The only thing I keep forgetting is they don't have a Bur Mixer. A bur mixer is like a hand-held blender--restaurants commonly use them to puree their soups. I got the tortilla soup, which I expect to be smooth and creamy, but it just had big chunks of random veggies in a spicy tomato broth. I'll pass on the soup next time and just go for their bread.

The Higher Taste (or... the Daiya Cheese post!)

      Well, we've all heard the hype about daiya cheese, right? Soy-free. Plant based. Melts like dairy cheese. Shreds like dairy cheese. The only problem until recently was where to find it. Only available in bulk to certain companies when they first came out, now Daiya is seeping into everything. It's a good sort of insidious though, trust me.

        Though I was lucky enough to try it a few months ago with the Back to Eden boys on a BBQ chick'n, fresh pineapple, red onion, and balsamic roasted potato pizza (Yeah, you read that right. HOLY YUM.), I've been wanting to try it again.

       I really like The Higher Taste because they're a Portland-based vegetarian and vegan company that's been around for over 20 years. Every single sandwich or burrito I've had from them is delicious. They can be a little spendy, but they're made with whole foods and love. That's right. Love is the last ingredient on all their items. Adorable.

       Lucky for me, I just found out that The Higher Taste now includes daiya cheese in their Vegan Supreme burrito. A wrap with pinto beans, green chilies, rice, and melty cheese? Yes, please!

Look at the little sombrero! Cute.

And in case you can't see the beautiful fine print:

I microwaved it for 2 minutes, then threw it in the oven on broil for another minute or two.  

 

Easy-peasy.

Yum, right? And here's some close-ups, cuz I know you want them:

It's true: It melts! So how is it?

        Well, the burrito itself was delicious. The daiya cheese had the melty thing down for sure. Which is awesome. The taste--hmmm. I think it's about on par, maybe a little better, than Follow Your Heart cheese. But it does melt a little more, which means when it's available at more places, I'll definitely look to incorporate it in a few recipes.

       You can find The Higher Taste at Fred Meyer, New Seasons, and Whole Foods. Just in case you want to get a Daiya fix in.