Vegtastic Voyage

mao’s on melrose

January 14, 2012 by vegtasticvoyage

On my recent trip to L.A. to check out Veggie Grill, my fellow bloggers and I had Saturday night on our own. Wherever would we dine? I knew we were supposed to go to Real Food Daily, but I felt this pull from Mao’s Kitchen, a super unpretentious Chinese joint I would walk to all the time when I lived in L.A. I didn’t want to force it on the ladies, but they agreed because we simply do not have good vegan Chinese in Portland.

What I remember and love about Mao’s was how vegan-friendly they were. It wasn’t just that they had vegan options, but the vegan options were just as valid as the omni ones. Once we had company and called in an order for delivery. One of the soups was not vegan, and shortly after placing the order we got a call alerting us that we had ordered something nonvegan. You gotta love that. (Of course, all vegan would be better, but I can’t complain unless I’m willing to open my own restaurant.)

We went to the Melrose location, since it was right by our hotel, but if you’re in Venice, there’s one there too! Don’t worry, both have communist-themed décor.

The Specials Board! You probably can’t see it ’cause it’s written so tiny, but every dish can be made vegetarian or vegan. “Just ask!”

They’re just fried wontons, but damn, do they make me happy. When you first walk in, they take your drink orders then get you your chips. I guess there have been enough occasions when I was sooooo hungry that these felt life-saving. Not for nothin’, they’re perfect for scooping up fried rice.

The onion pancake. I always remember getting two layers, and it was simply fluffy, oniony perfection. This was one thick layer and was sadly a bit doughy.

The $1 spring roll! (They’ve also got a $1 salad.) It’s not going to knock your proverbial socks off, but it’s a little spicy and just feels right.

The People’s Potstickers. These are filled with smoked tofu, a couple varieties of mushroom, and bok choy.

My old stand-by, the fried rice. Like all the main dishes, this comes with your choice of soft, smoked, or fried tofu. Why do I stick with the plain ol’ fried rice? Because before this, I have already eaten chips, a spring roll, and at least one other starter. This leaves little room in the belly, and what makes for better leftovers than fried rice? Oh, and it’s seriously one-third tofu.

Long-life beans, anyone? Again, simple, classic, it’s just green beans in a black bean sauce with smoked tofu.

Hong Kong Chow Mein made vegan. Saucy vegetables and fried tofu over pan-fried noodles. Food for the people!

Don’t forget your homemade ginger ale!

Veggie Grill comin’ atcha

January 12, 2012 by vegtasticvoyage

This post almost didn’t happen. When I first got the email inviting me to The Veggie Grill’s blogger event, I ignored it—they must have gotten my email address from some list or something, and I don’t live in L.A. anymore. But then I got a follow-up email right about the time I started getting emails from Webly, Janessa, and Jess, debating over whether or not they could swing the trip. “Sorry, ladies, I simply cannot arrange or afford a flight for next weekend!” I read the email again…ohhh, they were covering our flight and a night in a hotel so we could come try their food. I thought it foolish on their part, but it sure did sound like fun, so I did some quick scheming with the folks at work and figured out a way to make it happen. The Portland vegan bloggers were going to L.A.!

Turns out, Veggie Grill’s plan wasn’t foolish at all. They’re opening some new locations up here (Beaverton at the end of January, Downtown in May-ish, another Portlandy one sometime after that, with a few Seattle locations thrown in there somewhere), so they wanted to give us a head start. Honestly, for the price of a couple of advertisements they got four vegan bloggers (and a couple of omni restaurant reviewers) to try their food and listen to their story. Of course we’re writing about it—we write about everything! And you know me, I’m going to be straight with you.

We’ll get to the food in a minute, but I want to talk about the company. These guys are on a mission. They’re smart—and now they’re vegan. What started out as a business venture to build a chain of healthy fast-casual restaurants has changed their lives and just might change a few more. In researching this concept—the founders are all seasoned businessmen—they learned that vegan food can be just as flavorful and enjoyable as any other convenience food. Sure, that may not surprise you and me, but it did surprise them. Hooking up with their foodie Ray White, formerly of Native Foods, they are out to spread accessible, affordable vegan food across the country in a way that hasn’t been seen before.

You can choose to be excited about or scoff at the mass-market aspect of that. I personally don’t have a problem with it. Much like my experience at Native, sitting in the L.A. Veggie Grills, I loved looking around at a packed dining room, full of all races and ages, all eating vegan food. It’s not likely all these customers were vegan, but every vegan meal eaten means fewer animals are suffering. If we can take that to the masses, awesome. It could very well lead some to experiment at home with vegan ingredients or encourage them to try other vegan restaurants.

All right, you’ve been good and listened to me think probably way too much about this than I should. Here’s some food porn…after this photo of the Sunset location, for which I was hassled by The Man.

That’s Jess walking with Ray, who was a great storyteller. I was really glad to have met him. He has a love of produce and animals and people alike; it was nice to see the heart behind the chain, you know?

Wanna talk accessible? Vegan nachos are a gimme. They use a house cheesy blend, chili, corn salsa, and the other usual suspects for some could-be-worse junk food.

Same goes for the Buffalo wings. These drippy, saucy strips are like a gateway vegan food. You’ll find this Buffalo chick-product in sandwiches and wraps too. I’m not even a fan of vinegar, but I ate two of ‘em.

The All Hail Kale salad, ladies and gentlemen. Kale, corn salsa, cabbage, carrots, papaya-ginger vinaigrette, and agave-roasted walnuts…guess who’s gotta try to make this at home! I cannot tell you how much I loved this salad. I’m not at all embarrassed that I was the one who flat-out asked that they box up the leftovers for us. And yes, I did eat it for breakfast the next day—it held up just grand.

The VG team all had words about the mac-n-cheese. They’re apparently still tinkering with it. It’s a quinoa pasta with their gluten-free cheese sauce, so without the breadcrumbs it’s completely gluten-free. If you’re not into quinoa pasta or a very mild cheesy taste, skip it. Kids dig it and can’t tell the difference.

In addition to burgers (you know what those look like), the menu has a bunch of steaky options. The top one there is the All-American Stack, with veggie steak, dressing, the usual fixin’s, and an onion ring. (Note: Onion rings are not an option as a side, and I for one am outraged. Hear my outrage, Veggie Grill, hear meeeee!) The next is the Carne Asada, with a spicy veggie steak. I still can’t bring myself to eat vegan steak—so dumb, I know, totally psychological—but others were into it.

The sandwich I did try (and was super impressed with) was the Bayou Chicken. Here it is wrap-style, bundled up for me to take to the airport. It’s spicy and grilled, and totally satisfying. It was my top pick along with the kale salad.

It’s 2012. Your menu has to have sweet potato fries or people just aren’t going to bother with you. (Maybe 2013 will be the year of the vegan onion ring—a girl can hope.)

Dessert sampler, yes! I had three of these chocolate chip cookies over the course of the weekend and I wouldn’t mind another. The pudding has a dark chocolate base, and it’s the standard tofu pudding we’ve all made. Then the carrot cake: I loved it. It was pretty moist and mild. The frosting wasn’t übersweet, again going for the accessible, comfortable, you-could-have-made-it-at-home-but-you’re-running-errands-so-here-you-go vibe.

And that’s that. Unfortuately, I had to get on the early plane to make it back in time for work while the others stuck around for the new menu items, including full-meal, fork-n-knife plates, so check out their sites. I guess the Beaverton location won’t get the new menu just yet—baby steps—but you’ve seen the old one and they’re doing pretty OK with it. See you there!

a new love: taza chocolate mexicano

January 4, 2012 by vegtasticvoyage

I love chocolate. There’s no way getting around it, but honestly, why would I try? It’s delicious, it makes me feel good, and there are so many varieties out there (even vegan ones!) that I never grow bored with it.

While spending the last month moving and working the day job and taking on freelance stuff and taking care of holiday obligations and trying to keep up with my other projects, I ran myself into the ground way more often than I was comfortable with. And it’s gonna sound like junkie talk, but a little bit of chocolate was all it took to get me up and at it again: peanut butter cups, a healthy dose of Holy Kakow syrup in my coffee, or whatever caught my eye while I was waiting in line at the grocery store.

Thank you, Taza, for catching my eye. It’s just this little puck o’ chocolate, around $5 or $6—which we know is cheap as hell when it takes but a tiny taste to satisfy you, allowing you to enjoy and even share this delight for a whole week. I grabbed the Salt and Pepper one, because it listed plain ol’ salt and black pepper and I thought that was ballsy, going with very pedestrian ingredients. It wasn’t fleur de sel and poblano, you know, just that stuff you grew up with, the stuff that lives on tables in pancake houses across the nation.

The taste was anything but pedestrian, but let’s not even start with the taste. The texture is unlike anything I’ve had before. It’s coarse, dry, with grains of sugar and salt and pepper. I read about Taza’s process on their website, and everything is done by hand, no giant steel machinery, so the product has an imperfect, handmade quality to it. If you grew up on Hershey’s and are looking for a smooth, homogonized, bland chocolate, this is not it. You will experience a crude yet gorgeous collection of flavors and textures that you may not want anything to do with. And I weep for you that you cannot see the beauty in this treat of treats.

I’ve since gotten the Cinnamon variety, and it’s the same texture and slap in the face of flavor. I’m tempted to buy the sampler they have online (not the $99 variety pack!), because they’ve got a Vanilla Bean, a Ginger, a Salted Almond, and a bunch of others, including more exotic peppers. And seeing as they’re all dairy-free, I’m in for the grand tour.

Don’t worry, other chocolate, I still have plenty of room in my heart (and tummy) for you.

native

December 5, 2011 by vegtasticvoyage

You know that blogger conference I organize with the lovely Janessa and Jess? Well, we never stopped meeting and planning, and we’re already working on a series of events for the next couple of years. We can’t afford an office, however, so we usually meet in bars and restaurants, combining mealtime and worktime. Some meetings are more pleasant than others. No, not that we argue—it’s actually pretty amazing how well we all get along and share the vision of Vida Vegan—it’s just that some locations are more fun than others.

Last week we went all the way out to the suburbs to check out the first Native Foods in the Portland area. Rumors are they’ll eventually get to us here in the city, but until then, it’s a roadtrip out to the bling-ass outdoor mall. It’s worth it. Aside from the food it was fun to just look around and see a packed fast food joint in the suburbs…and they’re all eating vegan!

Take a look at what we got (and do notice notebooks in most of the photos—it really was a business meeting).

We started with the Native Chicken Wings. That’s right, no cute alternative spellings of these meat-alikes. They came with a bunch of sauces that I didn’t eat. The others seemed to like ‘em just fine. The texture of these is pretty soft, more like Gardein than seitan. To our delight, we got six pieces, very easily shared among three people!

I got the Chicken Run Ranch Burger…hold the ranch. Look at all that stuff; why would you need dressing? I totally didn’t care that my sandwich was the same as our appetizer. It was great and I was hungry. The fries were decently spiced. Next time I’ll try the sweet potato fries.

Behold Janessa’s Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger! The bacon is tofu, and those are fried pickles up top. This was so intimidating…and messy…and impossible to finish, but she sure as hell enjoyed herself.

Jess’s Chicago Dip Au Jus: peppered seitan, giardiniera, and au jus. I might try this one; it seems simple enough. Sorry for the schmer photo, but when you’re sitting down to dinner with other bloggers, by the time you get to the last plate you’re shooting pretty quick just so you can start eating.

We had to try dessert. These little lovelies are the Cardamom Rose Cupcake and Peanut Butter Parfait. Both were pretty good. Not pictured is the cheesecake. My photo was crap, and I didn’t really love it. It seemed sour-creamy, and when I ate cheesecake, it was the crazy cold, crazy firm kind, not squishy. So you may love it—cheesecake’s personal like that.

time to pack!

November 21, 2011 by vegtasticvoyage

In just a couple of weeks the fam will be moving into a house—with a kitchen so crazy gorgeous I can’t even stand it. That doesn’t make packing up the kitchen I’ve spent the last…almost four years in any easier.

Some of the stuff in the recesses of my cabinets will surely be trashed. If I can’t identify the type or purchase date (hell, year) of a plastic bag of some flour or starch or whatever, I’m not eating it. But there’s still a ton I can use. Take a look at what I’m dealing with:

The refrigerator is not dissimilar.

So in week one, I’ve made two of my favorites—you know, to lighten the load come moving day.

Stuffing! Whenever I get down to the ends of my bread, whether it’s homemade or purchased, I throw them in the freezer. Then, when the mood strikes, I can tear them up, dry them out, and make any day Thanksgiving. Not only did I clear out my freezer, but I also emptied a jar of bullion powder. Score.

Sushi! I cooked up all the short-grain rice I had and used up a jar of vegan caviar for what just might be my favorite food ever. The saltiness of the seaweed “caviar” was surprisingly perfect for sushi. I’ll definitely buy it again the next time I’m at Ikea, just for this.

As excited as I am to get out of our bite-size living quarters, I’m spacing as to whether or not there’s a place for this in the new kitchen. Not quite an Ikea hack, I found this in the bathroom section and thought it’d be perfect for spices. And so it is.

Fingers crossed—I just don’t know what I’d do without it now.

Wish me luck, and I’ll keep you posted as I throw together more bits-n-pieces meals in the coming weeks. It’ll probably get a little weird. Like what am I going to do with Soy Curl shake (the crumbly, powdery bits that collect in the jar I use when I buy bulk Soy Curls)?