Brussel Sprouts Ruled my Week.

Exhibit A.

Roasted with Lime and Garlic.

Carrying home a locally grown, giant stalk of brussel sprouts from Uncle Paul's produce market last weekend was pretty damn joyous. In retrospect, I wish I had written a DW-style song about it. I had two strangers remark at the big, green stalk leaning on my shoulder on my walk home! They seemed impressed.

For $2.49, I had the centerpiece of my next few meals and a whole lot of roasted brussels in my future. Growing up, my family never ate brussel sprouts. I doubt I really knew what they looked like until I was in college. My family did have an appreciation for a variety of green vegetables, so I assume that my mom had been cursed with over boiled brussels when she was younger and banished them from her life.

My go-to way to cook brussel sprouts is to roast them with freshly squeezed citrus juice. I saw it on a cooking show a few years ago, tried it at home, and the method stuck.

The first way I rolled with my new sprouts was to roast them with lime juice, garlic, coarse sea salt, black pepper and a little bit of extra virgin olive oil.

I subsequently roasted more with lemon juice, crumbled Papa G's savory tofu, more garlic and cremini mushrooms.

Next up is a hodge podge meal that I like to think was more creative than desperate, but it goes both ways. I was obviously going to cook with brussel sprouts, but I wanted to do something different, and didn't have a lot to work with. And I was fiercely craving Pad Thai Kitchen, but wanted to continue on my home cooked meals streak.

Exhibit B.

Pad Thai Woon Sen with Brussel Sprouts and Seitan.

I loosely based the sauce on the recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance, sliced the brussels, used homemade seitan from The Urban Vegan cookbook and threw some crumbled peanuts on top. I was worried the brussels would overpower the dish's tangy flavor, but they didn't - and it hit the spot.

Red Kuri Appreciation.

Three years ago, I had a couple Portland autumns under my belt and leaned towards red kuri as my favorite squash. Everyone else at the FarMars seemed gaga for pumpkin, spaghetti and delicata but roasted red kuri was my pick. Clearly I then went onto red kuri overload, because I've gone another couple years without it. It was time to change that this month, and change that I did.

The red kuri has a soft, sweet taste and fabulously orange insides.

Red Kuri Squash, I appreciate you.

This past weekend, I mashed you with sea salt and cinnamon...

And roasted your seeds with smoked paprika, sea salt, chili powder and some more goodness....

In fact, I made myself a cute little lunch for Monday in this recycled container from Sonny Bowl...

It had mashed red kuri squash, cheesy rice (I know, I used sushi, I was out of brown and inspired by Native Bowl, shh) and oven 'fried' chicken seitan nuggets.

Oven Fried Chicken Seitan Style Nuggets and Melty Swiss Uncheese

The Melty Swiss Uncheese is from the classic Uncheese Cookbook. Sometimes nothing beats a homemade cheesy sauce! I heart all the white miso in this one.

The seitan nuggets are from the Urban Vegan cookbook, and the breading is ala Bryanna Clark Grogan, aka the legendary BCG.

Fakin' Fest 2009!

This past weekend in Portland, fifty+ vegans consumed so much sodium it boggles the mind.

It's also gloriously mind boggling how awesome the first annual Fakin' Fest was.

Just look at this!

Mike's handmolded PIG cake!

All the cool vegans insisted on eating his head first, and we were left with a

pig cake butt at the end of the day.

Dishes ranged from sweet to salty to sweet and salty to savoury and salty and sweet again.

We raised $177.77 that goes directly to Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary, all kindly from a donations bucket at a potluck-picnic with a quirky theme. The entire event was word of mouth and internet based! It was even picked up on VegNews' website!

Not a bad turn out on a day it was supposed to rain and an event that wasn't actually postered around town! There's already talk of a Sausagefest (obviously, vegan!) and next year's Fakin' Fest '10!

Onto the splendorous food coma!

To be honest, I didn't try everything - there was SO much! It was overwhelming.

I was so proud!

Vegan Bacon-topped cupcakes

Dark chocolate dipped Bacon - I really enjoyed my piece of this!

Deanna's bacon and leek stuffed yams

Homemade tempeh bacon

Mac & Cheeze with Bacon-y topping

Yam fries - there was a dip with these..I bet it was smokey!

Tina's Spinach Fakin' Quiche

Mini Eggplant Bacon sandwiches

The Spicy Vegan's Potato Skins! with Michelle's Cheezy Biscuits in the background!

Whoa.

Cartopia Baco-Custard - Maple Bacon Ice Cream! by Lucas and Gregg.

Decadent, decadent, decadent.

Heather's Cute Stuffed Mushrooms!

Yeah! Bacon Baklava. This won honorable mention in a contest!

Extra pig cake frosting and a bacon cake!

Michelle's Cheeze Balls! Loved this.

Stef's Coconut Bacon Cupcakes!

Peas....and bacon!

I brought Herb Scalloped Potatoes with

Daiya Cheddar (which I may despise..) and Bac-os.

Melissa's Risotto~

Bacon roll ups!

I also brought Chocolate Chip Cranberry cookies sprinkled with

Alder Smoked Salt. Alder Smoked Salt, of love.

ONE of the two food tables.

Most of the Fakin' fanatics, towards the end of the sunny afternoon.

And finally, I'd like to showcase my personal proof that I did pay attention in elementary school. Your third grade science fair poster had nothing on this!!

Yeah, those are Bac-os spelling out Fakin'.

RECIPES?

The event's co-organizer, Maeve, and I are collecting recipes that we'll post here and include in a zine. Please email them to getsconed [at] gmail.com if you brought a dish and are interested!

Awards! We had awards for Most Creative Fakin' Dish, Best Overall Fakin' Dish, and Best Fakin' Inspired Haiku! The haiku readings were wonderfully dramatic, and dear. The first two awards went to Webly's Chocolate Bacon Dates and a sweet couple's Eggplant BLTs with dipping sauce.

Thanks again to Lightlife, for donating our prizes - Smart Bacon and Fakin' Strips!

And extra special thanks to my friend Erica, for all the artwork!

Thank you to all who came!

xoxo,

jess

tempeh bacon's biggest fan.

Ode to VEGAN BRUNCH Testing

Excuse me, Vegan Brunch is out!!!!

 Tofu Florentine with Bechamel

Once again, I had the honor of testing for an Isa Chandra Moskowtiz cookbook, and once again, I cannot stop raving about her recipes.   I tested twentysomething this time around, and many of them quickly made it into regular rotation in my kitchen, like the Swiss Chard Frittata and Chorizo Sausages.  There are also those, like the Tomato Rosemary Scones and East Coast Coffeecake, that I kick myself for not making more often.  Testing for Post Punk Kitchen books is always a fantastic ongoing project that has me trying things I wouldn't normally, and really thinking about what I can see myself making again.

If you've been to my apartment, or my flickr, you know I have a steamed sausage drawer in my fridge.  Everything I tested was awesome, no hype here - I mean, this is the author who gave the world tempeh bacon, the first recipe I ever made from Vegan with a Vengeance, and it's dear to my heart.  She fucking knows brunch.  Follow that with perfect, reliable and at many, many points - innovative, recipes for pancakes, waffles, morning greens, scrambles of the cubed and smushed variety (hell yeah, to throwing in cubes!), east coast style coffeecake, omelets and scones, and well, she gives anyone interested in vegan cooking another guide to impressing and feeding their friends and family any time of day.  

In fact, just last night I picked up my copy, and utilized the leftover olives from a party I threw, jar of capers I've had for a while (admittedly since Veganomicon Caeser testing!), and a block of bulk tofu from People's Coop and made the Puttanesca Scramble for dinner.

Let's embark on my Vegan Brunch test kitchen photo tour... (there were actually a few recipes I tested I didn't photograph, liked the Jeff-endorsed Chesapeake Tempeh cakes - shocking, I know, blame the winter lighting)

The Tofu Florentine with Bechamel

 served with steamed chard

The Puttanesca Scramble

What you and Zelda came for. Vegan Omelets.

With a spicy black beans and greens filling

To my dear Tofu Frittatas...

This one had shiitakes, spinach, rosemary and thyme

Asparagus

Swiss Chard, plated

Shiitake Dill (with creminis)

OMG, Sausages  - 

I made so many variations of Isa's Italian, Chorizo and Cherry Sage, I could never begin to name them all

You may know how it is....

Sausages and Greens 

Pan-fried

Cherry Sage - a couple weeks ago I made a 

Roasted Apple, Maple and Sage variation!

Spicy, spicy, spicy

Plated with extra mini-omelets

Poppy seed Pull-apart Rolls

Lemon Pepper Tofu

Scones! Chocolate Chip and Raisin something.  

These are actually rejects from a photo shoot for the book.  The recipes are all Isa's, but the sweet scones, Tomato Rosemary, coffeecake and mocha chip muffins seen in Vegan Brunch came from my little kitchen.  cough cough.

Tomato Rosemary scones (first test) and Smoky Shiitakes (and creminis)

Sesame Yam Tofu Scramble

White bean gravy

Tempeh Sausage Pastry Puffs

East Coast Coffeecake, with jam swirl

How to Swirl!  

Very East Coast meets Portland, with this Oregon Black Raspberry Jam

Peanut Butter Waffles AND Tempeh Bacon

Mom's Breakfast Casserole - (uncooked)

potatoes, tofu, tempeh sauce - which you then smother in a cheezy sauce or shredded cheeze.

Chelsea Waffles - 

which I finally made once I had the book in my hands!

I'm honored to share the 'all dishes taste better with the texture of cat hair' rule with Isa and Kirby.

So go out. Brunch. Enjoy!  

Thank you, Isa!

Please note that Isa is bribing me with a year of warm vegan omelets, whenever I want one, in exchange for writing this.