Grilled Cremini & Garlic sandwich.

Chomp.

It was under 100F yesterday when I left work, so I stopped at my local New Seasons Market and picked up FOOD to COOK for dinner. I was surprisingly productive last night with my bit of cooking and cleaning for a party this weekend! I almost turned on my oven and roasted local red potatoes with dill and then considered roasting tempeh.... Thankfully for my cats, I held onto my sanity and simply ate my sandwich.

It was beautifully easy to assemble - I halved local creminis and tossed them in a golden balsamic vinaigrette with large slices of garlic, cooked them on my cast iron grill pan, threw them on top of baby spinach, in an organic olive ciabatta roll from New Seasons (splurge!) added a large slice of local tomato and there was dinner. If I hadn't forgotten my vegan staple jar of Vegenaise at work months ago, I would have likely added some.

Grilled garlic = amazing.

Vegan Friendly Food Carts, Blowing my Mind.

I've returned home to Portland from a trip to Coeur D'Alene, ID hungry and to record breaking temperatures. My two cats and I are seriously considering camping out with the fridge door open ala Homer Simpson this evening.

Amazingly, some dedicated Portlanders have opened up even MORE vegan friendly carts while I've been gone. What does cooking at home mean again? New Seasons wok, right? Eating hand picked berries from the freezer?

Portland does not fail to blow my mind. People live their dreams! There are carts for everyone! Even ones clean enough for most cart haters/scaredy cats.

Back to my story.

So, earlier today, I was walking in a zombie like state, my freckles melting off, towards DC Vegetarian for lunch, and noticed a new cart. Like with all new carts, I stopped to see if there was anything vegan, and see what they were all about. The new sign read "Sonny Bowl" and a

white board menu listed three meal options. I processed them, and noticed no meat, no dairy, veggies, veggies, veggies and sauce!

I inquired and with my internal mental fireworks going off, learned that the cart was all vegan, as was its proprietor, and it just happened to be opening day. Again, here I was, walking to a new vegetarian cart for lunch, considering the very vegan friendly Just Thai cart next door and whether I'd pass out if I ordered hot noodles, and I stumble onto a new vegan cart on the same strip.

Behold, the Sonny Bowl.

I ordered option #2, with veggies, rice, coconut curry sauce and chickpeas. Hello, cabbage! Hello, summer squash! Hello, saucy. $6. Can you get anything at a cart or what? I ate fresh vegetables for lunch from a cart!

So...Portland. Food carts. The best. Always something new! Oh, and tonight? heading down to the self-described cartopia for the first ever FoodKartaroke at Whiffies. If Maeve gets there early enough, Hold On will be happening.

Speaking of DC Vegetarian, here's the vegan TLP (add $1 for Lightlife Tempeh Bacon) my friend Tiffany and I shared on their grand opening day. I had already been a couple times before during their soft opening week, they're really sweet. They gave away Tofutti Cuties on their opening day! I hear they have them now (for sale), too.

Vegan TLP

DC Vegetarian and Just Thai

I really like the Pad See Ew at Just Thai. Yep.

Another row of carts in downtown Portland.

The SW 3rd and Stark strip

And earlier in this photo essay, I mentioned MORE NEW VEG*N FRIENDLY CARTS.

• I've yet to go Lickety Split in the Pearl - vegan meatballs, polenta and grain bowls! cucumber basil freaking lemonade! Going soon.
• Wolf and Bears - on SE 20th and Morrison, Lebanese style vegetarian/vegan cart
• Vahalla Sandwich cart, behind the Dollar Scholar on SE Hawthorne
• and Asaase Ital cart by PSU - more on that coming soon on Stumptown Vegans! I love that place.

Asaase Ital Palace

Jerk Chickun. Say yes.

Unless you hate black pepper, like a certain friend of mine <3

You want more? Check out my list of Vegan Friendly Food Carts in Portland, with MORE additions soon! I'm seriously overwhelmed by all these new carts and have to catch up.

Splendid. Iced Coconut Coffee, Hot Ass Day.

Iced Coffee with So Delicious Coconut Milk.

So splendid. So delicious.

Coffee from local roaster K & F.

Unsweetened Coconut milk beverage of the god, by So Delicious.

Escape from my day at work, pull down the shades, cat on your lap, splendid.

I have a full product review in the very beginning stages for their newest product line, look for it later this summer! I should just get this out there - the vanilla = take. my. breath. away.

Thank you Staci for the idea! Next time, I work almond into this.

Veggie Thing, lately

Being obsessed with vegan food and the internet, and parked in front of a computer for most of my work day, I've kept up with regularly posting submissions to Veggie Thing by Citysearch.

Check out some of my recent favorite - many tried and true - around Portland and beyond! If you actually want to know why I like each dish besides it being tempting food with an assumed tempting aroma, then you should click on the link. It won't trap you or steal your credit card information so I can buy a new pair of colorful Earth Intrigues.

Vegan Potatoes Plate from Juniors

Ham and Cheese english muffin from Tube bar

Kettleman's Bagel with Chipotle Cream Cheese from Sweetpea

Cookies and Creme milkshake from Sip

Earl Grey Teanychino from Teany's in NYC.

I have more in the works- submitted one for Koi Fusion PDX earlier today!, and as usual, I post brief reviews on Yelp and extensive reviews on Stumptown Vegans.

Dandies Marshmallows + Brownies + Butterscotch Chips =

a birthday greeting for my friend Joanna, the super fly author of Yellow Rose Recipes. It's also the first culmination of my WHAT TO DO WITH A BAG OF DANDIES? post from last week.

Joanna and I met with friends from the PPK at the Bye & Bye last night (omg! Celine, Joni, Kim and Alin are in town!) for cocktails, Floor Punches, grub and conversation - and as Maeve and I were leaving for a Yelp Elite event, in walks Julie Hasson and her husband Jay with two pies!

Julie pretended to force me to take a bite of the banana creme, I did, I could rave about that wonderful dessert for an hour and a half, and what was my original point?

Happy Birthday Joanna!!!!

Smorey Butterscotch Brownies

They are admittedly thin because I used a slightly larger sized pan than the recipe called for. The original recipe is for Espresso Brownies that will be in next year's Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar by Isa Chandra Moskowtiz and Terry Hope Romero.

I added vegan butterscotch chips (from Pandacookie!!), a few halved Dandies vegan marshmallows before baking, and a bunch on top during the last few minutes of oven time. It fluffed up! Then it fluffed down. And then they were nibbled. There was still some of the desired gooeyness on top - yeah, Dandies rule.

Here's the BBQ platter Maeve and I shared at the Bye & Bye, my favorite dish on the menu. It's $1 off during happy hour. FYI, they've gladly swapped the collards for brussels before, if you're into that sort of thing!

It's been four days!

...and my friend Maeve has yet to take off the tiara that adorned the top of this birthday cake. I brought this cake to a joint birthday celebration for her and her friend Caitlin. Not pictured are the matching earrings that came with the tiara, that I don't think Caitlin has taken off either.

Not surprising, I mean, just look at those jewels.

This was actually the first time I've ever made the NEW VEGAN CLASSIC Raspberry Blackout cake from Vegan with a Vengeance. How odd.

Some thoughts on this, all numbered:

1) I'm a PPK cult member, what's taken me so long?

2) Baking cakes is fun! What's taken me so long?

3) I remember when Isa posted this cake on Livejournal's Vegancooking community years ago, before you could type! Before I could type!? What's taken me so long???

4) I'm spoiled with gee-orgeous personalized cakes from Sweetpea nowadays, love it! That's been delaying this.

5) Maeve told me she wanted me to bake this cake, so I did.

I baked, melted the ganache & our friend Jeff frosted.

Is there too much booze in sight for public viewing of this photo? I also brought vodka I'd infused with vanilla beans and local basil (that Maeve grew!) and vodka infused with coffee and more vanilla beans.

We meant to remove the tiara before lighting all 43 candles. Hilarity ensued.

Product Review: New Lightlife Tempehtations!

One of the perks of being a blogger is trying new products you may not necessarily pick up at the store. I feel confident that this is part of the reason you registered the domain VeganFoodRulesAlot on wordpress last year.

The Goods:

This was the case for me with Lightlife's Tempehtations. Since moving to Portland (5 years

this September!) and learning my way around a block of tempeh, I hadn't bought any Fakin' Bacon -

Prior to the point in my life where I learned to make sense of what I throw around a kitchen, I had regularly scheduled sandwiches based on this product. It meant so much to me!

Now I make my own tempeh bacon based on the recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance, but there was a point in my life Fakin Bacon was one of my favorite things to eat. So, right off the bat, I had faith in Lightlife's new tempeh series, and on top of that - they threw in a package of the strips! I passed out when opening it. Thanks, Lightlife!

so.....tempted?

Their new tempeh series is basically this: a block of cubed & flavored tempeh, ready to cook or simply warm, wrapped in plastic, and put in a colorful little box. I've tried the Classic BBQ and Ginger Teriyaki - the Zesty Lemon is conveniently waiting in my freezer for future use, I'm thinking over a salad or pasta. Convenience is key here - no need to marinate overnight or bake for 30+ minutes.

Served with soy dipping sauce, wasabi and garnished with sesame seeds.

The big stand out in my Tempehtations trial was this sushi. I clicked on my rice cooker, prepped the filling, quickly sauteed the Ginger Teriyaki tempeh cubes with some garlic in peanut oil, and when it was all ready to go, filled sushi with the tempeh, shredded carrot and avocado and rolled. The tempeh had a nicely mellow Teriyaki taste and didn't overpower the bites, I could also easily see this flavor grilled kabob-style, drizzled with a spicy sesame dressing.

Ready to be rolled:

The first time I tried the BBQ, I sauteed it and served it in a grain bowl with rice, collards, pink beans and hot sauce. Need I say more besides, classic?

Dinner time BBQ tempeh bowl #1 - a quick meal before a trip out of town

The one thing I felt like my bowl above was missing was sauce, but you don't always need your grains coated in sauce.....but below I totally wanted it. I used extra BBQ sauce from a PPK test recipe and heated the second half of the BBQ tempeh in it for a few minutes, and served with roasted mushrooms and cauliflower over quinoa.

I'll out the classic card for tempeh, BBQ sauce and quinoa again. The Lightlight Tempehtations are not sitting in sauce in their little box, so if you like things saucy, take 1-3 minutes and whip up a simple sauce or pull that bottle of Trader Joe's BBQ sauce you keep in the fridge for dipping emergencies out.

Dinner time BBQ Tempeh bowl #2 - a quick meal returning from a trip!

And lastly, I used the dear tempeh strips for a quick couple quick meals that were not sandwich based. Because if you know me, I rarely have bread at home the past few years. Huh, sandwiches? What are peanut butter and jelly doing together on soft bread?

Collards with Fakin Bacon and Roasted Apple Sage Seitan Sausage

Vegan Brunch Chelsea Waffles with chocolate chips;

more collards and tempeh bacon.

Collards cooked with olive oil, garlic, liquid smoke, tamari, hot sauce, teeny bit of maple syrup, broth/water and apple cider vinegar.

I think these products are a great stepping stone for the tempeh-phobic and those looking to incorporate more vegan proteins in their diet! I have no hesitation to cook my own tempeh these days, in fact, I made baked mango ginger tempeh for dinner last night, but there's no denying this product's consumer friendliness. If it had been around when I was younger, it would have been in my fridge! I would have kept an eye on it being on sale. Don't be scared of tempeh, folks.

PSA: Homegrown Smoker is Open!

BBQ Chronic Tempeh Ribs, close up

Obvious Confession: I'm a food cart groupie. I grew up eating knishes from hot dog trucks with my grandparents, pretzels from street vendors, and first discovered my love of falafel from the Jerusalem cart on the MIT campus in Cambridge, MA during my college years. Nothing has quite compared since.

And yeah, carts are EVERYWHERE in Portland. This includes my downtown lunch spots like The Whole Bowl, Savor Soup House and Just Thai, your classic taco trucks, an all vegan taco truck, stands at farmers markets like Toddbott's, special stops and stands at events, the cart pod on SE 12th and Hawthorne, and those on other main streets - like the new & all vegan Homegrown Smoker BBQ on NE Alberta. I went on opening day a bit ago, and again this weekend for a vegan tweetup (sorry, twitter speak)!

The obvious favorite -

BBQ Chronic Tempeh Ribs, Smoked Soy Curls, Mac & Cheeze, BBQ Beans & Molasses Corn Bread. $8

Photos by Lucas DeShazer.

The staff is sweet, there are two picnic tables, plenty of room for picnic blankets and! delicious vegan comfort food.

Some highlights: The mac and cheeze is now made with elbows and was really great - it just screamed comfort, the cornbread was sweet and moist and the smoked soy curls were just as fantastic as the first time I tried them.

Check out their operation on NE 23rd and Alberta, Thurs-Sunday, 12pm-8pm, I believe. They're just starting out so be careful about the hours.

In other food cart news, I'm going to finish and post my list of vegan friendly food carts in Portland soon - it's huge!

Dude! Dandies!

What should I do with this bag of Chicago Soy Dairy Dandies?

The first bag of sweet clouds...I slowly snacked on.

This bag is begging to become something more.

Maybe Smores Brownies?

What say you? Who's coming to my planned yet impromptu brownie potluck I'm making up at this moment?