PDX: Native Bowl in Mississippi!

The newest vegan cart in town.

Time to dust off the ole Vegan Friendly Food Carts in Portland list! Oh wait, it doesn't collect dust. Julie and Jay Hasson, two of the coolest vegan parents in Oregon, opened their food cart, Native Bowl, earlier this month.

Surely, you know Julie already, or you should, her list of culinary acclaims astounds me - to name some: cookbooks (with a new vegan diner book in the works!), the Everyday Dish cooking videos, teaching cooking classes for The Cancer Project, her own blog, being an awesome person

and now, an all vegan food cart!

The Native Bowl is all about the "mix" of ingredients. Their bowls are topped with house made exceptional sauces and are filled with vegetables, sushi rice and soy curls or tofu, and named after NATIVE areas -i.e. the Alberta bowl, Mississippi bowl, etc. Get it? I do!

They're also serving grilled sandwiches, wraps and baked goods. Because you know, Julie rules.

There was a vegan reuben with Daiya as a special the day I visited.

Be Advised: This is a high quality lunch visit, bring more than $5 with you! A large bowl (which is served in a Chinese style carton) will run you $7.50, though I did have sauced leftovers that were great with my dinner!

Onwards to the photos!

My Alberta Bowl with a spicy Korean Srichacha sauce

The sauce had me wondering if there were tears in my eyes - in a good way! A great way!

They'll happily turn down or up the heat for ya, I'm sure - I'm a wimp these days.

My friend had the hummus wrap - and remarked that "she knows what she's doing". It seemed like the bread as well was homemade.

For dessert - a coconut macaroon. Look, I've had a lot of vegan macaroons, and this was the best one I've ever put into my mouth.

The new tables at the cart lot are...vintage. Check out the helpful notes on them, below.

On the topic of carts, winter is slowly approaching, and there's a bit of chatter about covered seating, indoor escapes, heat lamps, carts closing for the season (Wolf & Bears soon being one) and where to store your cart going blankets. Let's see if cart going thrives through the rain, or we find ourselves inside actual restaurants more often.. The Mississippi Marketplace and Cartopia at 12th & Hawthorne, in particular, seem to be preparing for the colder weather well.

All Photos by Lucas DeShazer.

teese'd pizza with fake sausage.

Pizza night.

Right before I left on a business trip to sunny, warm Phoenix (please note that these are climate related adjectives that do not describe a fun time for me) I made pizza.  Teese'd pizza, to be exact.  I hadn't bought teese in months and couldn't freaking resist picking up one of the new small logs of mozzarella for sale at Food Fight!  They were cute, I'd recently made marinara and had a batch of steamed Italian sausages at home.  It was meant to be.  I'll talk more about my Phoenix eats soon, which were sadly slim because I didn't have a ton of free time or a car but I worked one actually delicious meal in.

Speaking of Chicago Soy Dairy products, I'm expecting a bag of their new Dandies Vegan Marshmallows soon!  Anyone have them yet?  They seem to be the next big thing.

Let's continue on to the vegan pizza porn overloading....

Organic New Seasons pizza dough, Italian sausage, cremini mushrooms, broccoli, chard, red wine marinara, teese, dried oregano and sesame seeds.

From my Food Fight! stop.

Portland area folks - check out teese'd slices at It's a Beautiful Pizza.  

Available by the slice and pie.  Sometimes their sauce is herb-tastic and sometimes it's bland, what are you gonna do?  They wear tie dye shirts, for pete's sake.  I'll be eating great vegan thin crust slices in NYC next month on my annual pilgrimage to the home state.

Behind the scenes of the sausage.  

I based the sausage recipe on Isa's Spicy Pinto Sausages from the PPK, which are in turn based on Julie Hasson's.  I utilized fresh thyme and frozen pesto, among other things.

I like mixing the wed ingredients in my magic bullet blender.

After I'm done steaming, I literally toss the sausages into the steamed sausage drawer in my fridge.  It's their home.  Until I eat them.

More sausage, chard and creminis.

More from the Vita-Mix: Peach Soy Ice Cream & Hazelnut Chocolate Smoothie

A couple months ago a brand new Vita-Mix came into my life, and things have never been......................................smoother.  My comical Magic Bullet definitely still comes in handy when it comes to pureeing small portions and chopping a lot of garlic, but the Vita-Mix blends and purees and grinds more quickly and smoother than I anticipated.  Clearly I didn't have enough faith in this holy appliance.  I've been pureeing soups, puddings and making marinara without a bit of graininess to it.  

Peach Soy Ice Cream

During my recent bout with the classic cold, I reached for the last of the chopped frozen peaches I'd picked on my birthday in September, and made the recipe for Peach Soy Ice Cream from the Vita-Mix website.  I used plain soy milk, Madagascar Vanilla Powder (I got this from Julie Hasson and it's fantastic, no surprise) and a bit less (organic) sugar.  My awful sore throat and tired-self was thrilled with this!  As recommended, spoon some into your mouth pronto.

Once frozen again, it does lose the creamy texture, but you can blend it with more liquid and ice for a smoothie.

Ready to blend-

And you have something like soy ice cream.

I also made homemade hazelnut butter this past weekend in the Vita-Mix, with the help of a little peanut oil.  Hazelnuts are my favorite nut and happen to be the state nut of Oregon.

Roasted & Ready to Butterize.

No picture of the finished product, but I will share that I had the brilliant/lazy idea to make a smoothie in the blender instead of just cleaning it, after making the hazelnut butter.  I blended bittersweet chocolate (without melting! behold the power!), soymilk, a dab of hazelnut liquor, vanilla powder and a pinch of brown sugar.

Vegan Nutella-ish smoothie in a Pabst glass, anyone?

Angel Food Marshmallow Making

Back in September, I bought myself a New Zealand-based Angel Food Vegan Marshmallow kit from Food Fight! on my birthday.  Ridiculously, it took me until this past weekend to make them.  Sure, it also took me a couple months to build up the nerve to buy non-organic corn syrup in the first place - I wanted these as old-school as possible.  With a cheap candy thermometer and my supplies ready, I spent a Saturday night making vegan marshmallows.....and then rewatching LOST, and eating marshmallows with friends.

Traditional Vanilla and Black Raspberry Marshmallows

The process did take time - though I'm sure I was done within 40 minutes of less: boiling, whisking, measuring, whipping, taking temperatures and setting. Go figure, as a food blogger, I enjoy spending time on culinary projects.  The end product wasn't as Sweet and Sara marshmallow-fluffy (or traditional) as I'd hoped, but they are smushy and sweet!  I felt a tad silly buying a kit shipped from New Zealand for a vegan indulgence, but it was a positive purchase from a vegan company that I made at the local vegan grocery store, and for my birthday!

FYI, this kit and a meringe kit are also available via mail order from Food Fight! and Angel Food itself among others. 

The Black Raspberry variation was considerably...smushier, thanks to the extra liquid from the local black raspberry jam.

 Psst, I know (and have sampled!) Julie Hasson's progress on bringing vegan marshmallows to the masses as well!  Thrilling news after the Emes-isn't-vegetarian-gelatin tragic story from a few years back.

Fluffing in my mom's old KitchenAid mixer

The messy boiling station

Live fluff!

 Yeah, I'm ridiculous.

VWAM's Apple Sage Sausages

Before I left for Seattle, I finally made a batch of VWAM's Vegan Apple Sage Sausages.

These are potato, sage and apple flavored steamed seitan engineered by the marvelous Jayne (aka VWAM, aka Virginwithamemory) on the PPK forums, who I've had the pleasure of meeting in person a few times. She kicked the butt of the packaged (though delicious, yet pricey) Field Roast variety using Julie Hasson's steamed sausage method.

Here is Jane's original recipe, first posted on the PPK on 2/17/2008:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tea. salt1/4 tea. cloves
1/4 tea. allspice
2 1/2 tea. onion powder
1 tea. ginger
3 tea. sage
1/4 tea. cayenne
1/4 tea. black pepper
1/2 cup dried apples, chopped finely
1/2 cup cold mashed yukon gold potatoes (NOTE-I used leftover roasted garlic mashed russets)
2 tea. marmite (NOTE-I didn't have marmite so I used a bit more liquid smoke and tamari)
3 Tb. olive oil
1/2 tea. liquid smoke
1 tea. crushed garlic from a jar
1 Tb. maple syrup
2/3 cup water

Instructions:
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, mix it up.
Combine wet ingredients in a different bowl, mix it up.
Combine wet and dry ingredients and knead for a few minutes.
Form into little sausage shapes and wrap them up in tin foil tightly.
Steam for 1/2 an hour. Unwrap them, put some oil in a pan and fry them up a little.
Yummy.

From this...

To this....

To this..... To....THIS!

Pan fried with kale and garlic and served with rosemary roasted potatoes.

They're a superbly flavored seitan sausage, and I look forward to making them again once I purchase Marmite.

More Brunch Test Recipes ala Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Since late last week I've had kitchen time on my hands and Brunch test recipes to play with.
It's like having Isa over for brunch, only she doesn't show up and just tells you what to do.

Tofu Benedict with Hollandaise

Sesame Tofu Scramble (itty bity lefotvers)

Sauteed Collards with 'Sausage'

With Smoky Black Bean Sausages - my variation of Isa's Spicy Pinto Bean Sausages (there will be breakfast sausage in the book!), which was based on Julie Hasson's Spicy Italian Sausages.

The evolution of the easiest fake meat making.

Getting ready to steam.

Finished product. Who buys Tofurkey?? THESE ARE SO DAMN EASY.

Tofu Benny, Shot 2, this time with more smoky, steamed chard:

Wash it all down with the last glass out of your third-to-last carton of
Peppermint Chocolate Vitasoy from your stockpile.

Look for Isa's Brunch book to hit in early 2009, if I recall correctly. Maybe I'm making that up, but it sounds right. Testing is almost complete, but expect at least a few more blogged about in the near future.

Anantomy of a Grocery Trip: Penzey's Spices

First off, thanks for the all shoe feedback!

Because I have a rule that Julie Hasson must be mentioned on my blog at least once every other week, I should get it out of the way that I've wanted to visit Penzey's Spices since she mentioned it recently. (sorry about the big picture of the ham! warning!)
Fortunately, I had an opportunity to go with my friends last weekend via vehicle since it's not quite in Portland itself, and joined in on the spice party.

I usually buy my spices in bulk (Limbo, People's Coop, New Season's) and it was a fun change to buy in jars and bags.

I spent approximately $15, and walked out with the folllowing:

• whole Nutmeg
• Indian 'Very Hot' Crushed Red Pepper
• Zatar
• Indonesian Korintje Cassia Cinnamon
• Indonesian White Pepper
• and Jerk Chicken & Fish Spice (for my sister)

I've actually divided my goods and have a package going out to my sister tomorrow. A way to justify the fun spending!

There were 4 different types of freaking cinnamon! I have Vietnamese Cinnamon at home already and happily picked up the Indonesian after smelling them all.

My friends being all spicy.

Jealous? You can easily purchase online or go to the store nearest you!

"Farm Cafe" Rosemary Roasted Hazelnuts

nibble.Recently I was talking about how much I wanted to recreate the roasted hazelnuts from The Farm Cafe at home and I have! And I didn't have to do any of the work, either!

Julie Hasson pointed me in the direction of the recipe, that was featured in Bon Appetit Magazine. Because it's so easy, and makes sense with this post, I have reposted it below.

Please note that I made a half batch, and husked most of the hazelnuts ahead of time. I used fresh rosemary and a rich organic dark brown sugar I buy in bulk from People’s Coop.

Sweet and Spicy Roasted Hazelnuts (The Farm Cafe/Epicurious.com)

Servings: Makes 4 cups.

Vegetable oil (I used canola)
4 cups hazelnuts, toasted, husked
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh rosemary (I used organic, local)
1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt (I used sea salt)
5 dashes of hot pepper sauce*

Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush 13x9x2-inch baking pan and large rimmed baking sheet generously with oil (I used my oil mister). Mix hazelnuts, brown sugar, rosemary, salt, and hot pepper sauce in large bowl to blend. Transfer to prepared baking pan. Bake until sugar melts and coats nuts, stirring every 5 minutes, about 20 minutes. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Cool completely. Break hazelnuts apart and store in airtight container at room temperature. (Can be made 5 days ahead.)

Test-kitchen tip: It's important to keep the hazelnuts hot during the entire baking time so the glaze doesn't clump. To prevent the hazelnuts from cooling off, don't remove them from the oven when stirring — just pull the oven rack out slightly.

*I used Frank's Red Hot the first time I made this, and Chihlua the second - definitely use a spicy one and don't be afraid to use more than 5 dashes. It wasn't quite as spicy as the restaurant's version both times I made this - they use Tabasco brand sauce on theirs. The nuts may smell hot and sour before roasting, but don't let that scare ya off.

Vegan Creations are Better

Basic Omelet from Isa's Crack of Noon Test Kitchen
I filled this with roasted red wine & rosemary cremini mushrooms and some of Julie's sausage.

Shot 2

Smokey Collards and some mor eof Julie's sausage, sauteed with garlic.

Blood Orange and Shallot Baked BBQ Tofu, Quinoa and Broccoli.

And from Terry and Isa's Cookie Test Kitchen, Key Lime Shortbread

How YOU doin?

This brunch plate from Sweetpea is hitting on you. It already had me.

Tofu scramble, kale, biscuit, white gravy, pancake, potatoes and seitan.

Sweetpea Bakery & Cafe Sunday vegan brunch buffet. I finished almost all of this plate! $12 per person. Should be happening on a regular basis. My favorite parts were the seitan, kale and gravy. Breakfast greens are da bomb.

Another version of Julie Hasson's Sausages - Smokey Tomato, Garlic & Basil

I made a mistake somewhere and these had trouble firming, but they finally did after some more work. These are swell and I can't say enough how easy they are to make why haven't you made them yet?

Thomas and I shared this Maple Cinnamon soft serve to-go from Blossoming Lotus on Saturday (take note - not the same day as the buffet! I didn't want to eat again till 4:30pm yesterday). It was not too sweet and full of spice~

Yesterday I made Blood Orange & Shallot BBQ sauce, based on the Veganomicon Backyard BBQ sauce recipe.

I subbed shallot for the onion, added the juice of one small blood orange, and swapped some maple syrup for the sugar. It was pureed after simmering. No chunky sauce for this gal.