One use that was perfect for the new Teese was a margarita pizza. The round shape of the tube and the soft creaminess made it a good stand in for a buffalo mozzarella on the classic pizza.

I also used some to make up a batch of mozzarella sticks. I kicked up my previous recipe by using panko bread crumbs and adding vegan bacon bits to the breading. The Teese did not preform as well as I might have liked, and they were more like breaded cheese curds (but still very tasty). I may have not fried them long enough to get the frozen Teese to fully melt.

Recently I finally got a chance to check out Wayward Cafe’s new digs in the university district. Wayward has been a vegan staple in Seattle for years. It opened some years ago, originally as a workers collective, but after a time it began to experience some organizational issues and slid down hill for a time. Eventually some new owners took over and whipped it back into shape. Now, it has moved into a great new location across the street from Sidecar.

We made it up to Wayward for a late Sunday breakfast. The new location features a reasonable amount of seating, and while it was busy, we were able to grab a table about two minutes after walking in. Despite a full house, service was still prompt and the food came out swiftly. With the opening of the new location came a new expanded menu, so we decided to try some new items as well a some classics.

Filling in for the classics we have the perennial biscuits and gravy. I’m not sure how biscuits and gravy became such a staple of American vegan cuisine, but I’m not complaining. Wayward’s are top notch, served smothered in a creamy mushroom gravy that I could pretty much eat on its own.

“Suns Over Seattle” is a vegan take on “Moons Over My-Hammy” that some of you may remember from the Denny’s menu. Scrambled tofu, veg ham, and a “cheddar” sauce sit between buttery grilled sourdough. An amazing sandwich served with hash browns.

Last up was the “Cream Cheese” Blintzes.  The blintzes were good (FYI a blintz is similar to crepe, but typically a little thicker), but the filling was pretty much just a cream cheese icing (obviously made with Tofutti). While it was tasty, I would have liked a little more body from the filling. It was also surprising that this was the only crepe/blintz on the menu. I would love to see one with some fruit.

Over all Wayward remains on my top recommendations for Seattle, so get up there and check them out.

Our First stop was a late breakfast at Vita Cafe in NE Portland. I have been going here for years, and as it was close to where we were staying it was a fine choice. I will first note that Vita is not all vegetarian, as is the case with most of the choice spots in Portland. For some reason it seems that while Portland is incredibly vegan friendly, there are still not that many all vegan restaurants (all though many more than there were a few years ago). We ordered the Faux Turkey Florentine which featured their house made faux turkey with spinach, tofu, and vegan hollandaise on a English muffin. We also had the “Portland Breakfast,” a basic plate of scrambled tofu, potatoes, and toast.

A large mound of vegan soft serve with chocolate sauce, crushed mint cookies, and dandies marshmallows

The next stop was Back To Eden, a newly opened vegan bakery just down the street from Vita. They boasted an impressive case of desserts including cookies, pies, cheesecake, and cakes and truffles. Also on the menu: both vegan soft serve and Coconut Bliss ice cream, and related treats like sundaes, milkshakes, and floats. They also offered a good number of gluten free options for those for whom that is an issue. We elected to try one of the soft serve sundaes with chocolate sauce, mint cookies, and Dandies marshmallows and a slice of Boston cream pie. The sundae was great, and surprisingly large. The Boston cream pie was ok, but not exceptional. Over all I am excited Portland has another vegan bakery, and it will be on my list of places to stop next time I am down.

Boston Cream Pie

That evening we headed to Hungary Tiger Too in southeast Portland. This exceptionally vegan friendly (but also not all veg) bar boasts an impressive separate vegan menu featuring vegan corn dogs, burgers, sandwiches, nachos, and breakfast. I, of course, had to try the vegan corn dog basket, which featured two vegan corn dogs atop a rather large basket of tater tots. We also had the BLTeaser, a vegan blt made with tempeh and avocado. It was served with their house made potato chips, which were also excellent. Everything was good, and the service was fast and friendly. Some time I will have to make it down on a wed for their $1 corn dog night. I’m not sure how late their kitchen serves, but the all ages dining room closes around 7pm after which you will have to order at the bar.

Perhaps one of the greatest things Portland has to offer is actual late night options for vegan food. Besides a few bars that serve a late night menu, Portland is covered in food carts. Often several will share a corner lot in a sort of urban food court. One great spot for late vegan eats is the lot at 12th and Hawthorne. We stopped at Whiffie’s Fried Pies. Whiffie’s features both sweet and savory fried pies, most of which are vegan (and marked on menu). As they were out sweet pies by time we go there (2am) we got an empanada filled with soyrizo, beans, and a yeasty cheese sauce. The crust was light and flaky, and the filling was excellent. The lot also featured a Mexican cart that boasted many vegan options including cactus burritos, a potato cart that offers vegan poutine, and a pizza cart that offers vegan cheese and sausage. Most are cash only, so come prepared.

Meatball Sub with brussels sprouts

The next day began with a lunch at The Bye and Bye, an all vegan bar in NE Portland. Beneath the stylish modern interior we found a delightful menu of vegan food including many sandwiches and several bowls, including several bbq based options. We decided on the meatball sub with a side of Brussels sprouts, and the special with a side of black eyed peas. The special was a hearty slab of mushroom polenta, tempeh, kale, and a cumin aioli all sandwiched between an English muffin. Everything was excellent. I highly recommend the meatball sub and the brussels sprouts. They serve a full menu until 10pm and offer a truncated late night menu till close. You can also check out their vegan cocktail menu, including all your creamy favorites made with soy creamer and soy whip.

The special with black eyed peas. Fun fact: all the photos in this post were taken with my iphone.

That evening we headed to Blossoming Lotus. For years blossoming lotus operated in a shared space with a yoga studio in the pearl district but recently relocated to the NE in to their own restaurant space. It seems that they may already be outgrowing their new digs as we actually tried to eat there the night before and left after 25 min with no sign of a table. So we can back the next night armed with a few friends and a reservation (I believe they only take reservations on larger groups). The menu featured hearty vegan fair along with a large raw section and many gluten free options. We started with the live nachos, tomato and walnut chips with squash nacho cheese, cashew sour cream, and an avocado sauce. They were good, but like many raw dishes a little on the pricey side. For entrees we tried the four cheese lasagna, which was good, though nothing spectacular, and the special, which was hazelnut breaded tempeh served over roasted vegetables and kale and topped with portabello gravy. Over all the meal was good, but be sure to get there early or bring some friends and make a reservation.

We topped off the weekend at Voodoo Donuts, Portland’s local indie donut company. Voodoo now has two locations. Their original down town location is open 24 hours, and their newer location in NE is open till 3am (although they will sometimes sell out and close early) and offers seating, parking, and pinball. While not all vegan, they offer a wide selection of vegan donuts, both cake and raised. Voodoo has been serving up vegan cake donuts for years, and offers toppings to classic sprinkles to crushed Chico Sticks. The vegan raised offerings are a newer development and they new offer a full range of classics including jelly filled, maple bars, and Boston cream. The raised donuts are light and fluffy and just the right amount of sweet. I grabbed a vegan dozen plus a few others including a gigantic apple fritter and the “Portland Cream,” a cream filled donut topped with maple glaze.

Opening the box, the roast did look incredibly turkey shaped, a far cry from the gluten football that is the Tofurky roast. The next discovery: the roast comes unstuffed. There is a cavity in the back of the bird and the “stuffing” is provided separately. This was incredibly exciting as it opens up many possibilities for future applications. As this was my first time trying the product, I decided to stick to the basic package directions, which were fairly simple: stuff the roast, wrap in foil and bake. An hour later it was ready to eat.

The roast itself was very good. As soon as I took a bite I instantly figured out what else the company made. Vegetarian Plus (Vege USA) makes the little vegan chicken drumsticks that can be found frozen, and at some restaurants, wrapped in a tofu skin and skewered with a sugar cane “bone.” The “whole turkey” was similarly, if not identically, composed of so fiber and soy protein wrapped with a tofu skin. The soy fiber makes for a grained texture very much like poultry. It was much lighter and cut much better than seitan or Tofurky. Most pleasently, the roast was exceptionally moist, even without any basting or marinating. Flavor wise, it was not particularly turkey like, but more like chicken in flavor. The “meat” does have a bit of an oddly sweet flavor to it, but covered in a nice gravy it balanced out nicely. If I get arround to making another one of these beasts I will probably experiment with spice rubs or basting to inject a little extra flavor. I might also try cooking it uncovered for a few min at the end to crisp up the skin a little better. Ultimately I would like to deep fry one of these, but I don’t think it will fit in my fryer, so I might actually need a turkey fryer. The size of the roast was great as well, as it allowed for easy carving and plenty of left overs.

One of the exciting part of the roast was carving off the "drumsticks." It would have been awesome if they had put the same sugar cane "bones" in that they use in the little chicken drumsticks.

The gravy didn’t fail to disappoint. Initially the pouch of gravy seemed a little ridiculously small, but further investigation revealed that it was more of a base, and it will take a good amount a water to thin down to proper gravy consistency. It was salty, tasty, and had a good consistency. Over all I found it much more enjoyable than the Tofurky “giblet gravy”

The stuffing was a little bit of a let down, but fortunately I had prepared some herbed chestnut stuffing.

Where things fell short was with the stuffing. The “Himalayan Barley Fried Rice Stuffing” was much more fried rice than stuffing. It appears it is a product that the company makes separately and just threw in rather than making a new stufing product. As a fried rice, it was OK. Some very decent mock ham and a curryish spice bled blended decent flavor. The barley is very toothsome, bordering on underdone, and did not stick together at all so it was very granular. The texture was one of the areas in which it most failed to fulfill the stuffing role. Also, the spice blend did not really jive with the turkey and gravy, let alone the rest of the meal. Luckily, the turkey comes un-stuffed, so next times I will use my own stuffing and save the fried rice for a later meal.

Over all we were all very pleased, including a couple of my meat eating friends that tried it. While it caries a bit of a heft price tag, ranging around $40-$50, the size of it makes it comparable to other vegetarian roasts on the market. I’ll be watching and will hopefully be able to grab a couple on sale late in the season.









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Recently Seattle has started to get on the street food band wagon. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of vegan options available. While many hot dog stands might have a veggie dog, rare is the vegan hot dog bun (most typical buns contain milk or animal derived dough conditioners). So I was supprised and excited to find some excellent vegan offerings at what seemed a verry unlikely place: a BBQ catering truck shaped like a giant metal pig. Unfortunately the pig has gone into hibernation for the winter and won’t be back on the street until April.

Maximus/Minimus is built on the idea of two flavor profiles: maximus (spicy and savory), and minimus (sweet and tangy). While the specialty of Maximus/Minimus is pulled pork, they also offer a surprising veggie sandwich. The sandwich, which is listed on the menu as 100% vegan including bun (pretty sure they use Rudy’s Organics), is composed on barley with grilled fennel and onions with your choice of sauce (which you are limited to maximus as minimus does contain honey), which makes a very good, and original, sloppy joe/pulled pork kind of sandwich. For the sides they offer two slaws, both of which are vinaigrette based and dairy free (although the minimus does again contain honey), and house made vegetable chips. The chips are one of the highlights, composed of potato, carrot, beet, and green beans spiced with a little jalapeno.

When active, Maximus/Minimus spends most of the day at 2nd and Pike in downtown, as well as at events around the area. While a bit of a line can form durring the luch rush, they are good at handling it. They usually have someone out front taking orders and payment and things move along quickly. There is no seating, only a few folding tables you can hunch over if you don’t want to take your food back to the office. A veggie sandwich, slaw, and chips will run you $9. Check them out at www.maximus-minimus.com

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After reading enough vegan cookbooks, they can start to all look the same. The endless parade of tofu scrambles, stir fries, and poorly constructed baked goods start to bled together. The Artful Vegan provides a refreshing selection of truly exceptional cuisine. Chefs Eric Tucker, Bruce Enole, and Amy Pearce give us 140 amazing recipes representing interpretations of a wide range of global cuisines, taken to the cutting edge of modern gourmet cuisine. This is the second book from the Millennium Restaurant in San Fransisco (which happens to be the best vegan restaurant I have ever been to, or probably ever will), and it exceeds even the high standards set by the first book (The Millennium Cookbook). This is not just great vegan food, but truly first class, gourmet cuisine that is vegan.

Whether you are trying to impress that special someone, convince your parents vegans can eat real food too, or are looking to rekindle your culinary inspirations, you will not be disappointed. The appatizer sections contains such delights as “Sesame-Crusted Mushroom Calamari over Burdock Kimpira” (I haven’t made the recipe, but I did try this at the restaurant. It was amazing) and “Corn Flan over Tomato Compote with Spicy Grilled Nectarine.” Moving on to salads you will find an asoortment of arfully composed raw and grilled salads.  A pasta section adds another selection of dishes with a range of inspired flavors. The entree section continues to impress with fully composed dishes such as “White Bean-Filled Phyllo Purse Over Soft Polenta with Porcini-Zinfandel Sauce, Broccoli Rabe, and Grilled Pear”.

Plating an avocado key lime tart for a benefit for pigs peace sanctuary.

Where The Artful Vegan really shines (for me at least) is in the dessert section. While there are a few stand alone desserts (the walnut macaroons are most likely the best gluten free cookies I have had and the tapioca pudding has become a staple in my repertoire), the book features a bevy of sophisticated, restaurant quality, plated desserts. The key lime tart uses avocado to make a smooth, rich filling that sits in a pistachio and poppy crust that is almost good enough to stand as a cookie on it’s own. The whole thing is paired with a white chocolate mouse and a mango sauce. Also featured are several amazing cakes, and an assortment of ice creams and sorbets.

While not a prime cookbook for someone who doesn’t know how to cook, The Artful Vegan is choc full of amazing dishes sure to impress and inspire even those skeptical of vegan cuisine.

Daiya melts beautifully, even at 500 degrees.

The other day I was in Sidecar and noticed a new addition to the vegan cheese section. I asked the manager what it’s deal was and she casually remarked, “Well, it melts and stretches.” Come Again? Stretches? I snatched a package of the mozzarella style

For real: it stretches.

shreds (I believe the company actually calls it “Italian Blend”) and hurried home. I mixed up a batch of pizza dough and anxiously waited for the dough to rise.  I topped my pizza with some marinara and the Daiya and into the oven it went. Fifteen minuets later I pulled it out and the cheese was bubbling, melting, and most amazing of all, stretching!

While Daiya actually is not that impressive cold (it is really not that good at all), the magic is in the melting. It doesn’t “melt” like other vegan cheeses, either becoming slightly soft after a great deal of coaxing or liquefying into a pool of cheesy oil, it really melts like cheese. You don’t have to fiddle with it or worry about it, just throw it in any recipe like real cheese. In the toaster oven, on a sandwich, a quesadilla, mac and cheese, or even just stirred into pasta before serving, it all works. The flavor also improves quite a deal as it melts, and while not particularly strong, is amazingly cheese like and has no funny aftertaste. Did I mention it is soy free too? Currently Daiya is available in “Italian Blend” and “Cheddar” flavors. Both are excellent.

A grilled cheese with some mushrooms, tofurky, and both types of Daiya.

The bad news is that it is currently only available as a food service product and is not available in retail packaging. You can check their site to see if there are any restaurants in your area using it, otherwise you can get it at Sidecar here in Seattle. If you live elsewhere and want to shell out the dough for shipping, you can get it online from Pangea and Cosmo’s Vegan Shopee. As soon as you have the opportunity I advise you get your hands on some. I have quite a few ideas brewing, so expect to see a few recipes featuring Daiya soon.

Did I mention it stretches?

Sidecar boasts a good variety of basic baking supplies as well as many mixes and hard to find goodies like vegan white chocolate chips.

Seattle is one of a handful of cities lucky enough to have a 100% vegan store. Even more unique is that Sidecar is a non-profit store that benefits Pigs Peace Sanctuary (our area farm sanctuary). Located in Seattle’s University District across the street from Pizza Pi, Seattle’s vegan pizza joint, Sidecar boasts an impressive array of hard to find vegan products. Tucked in thier modest shelves and coolers is a varitable treasure trove vegan goodies. Hard to find vegan cheeses, imported from as far as Scotland, along with an impressive assortmant of candies, frozen desserts, and fake meats makes this a must stop local if you are in the area. They also carry a good selection of supplements and bath products as well as a limeted “boutique” section that includes belts, wallets, and bags. Sidecar also sells a few hard to find “food service only products” such as Daiya Vegan Cheese and many Field Roast Products

There is a simple pleasure in being able to shop for food without having to constantly read ingredient lists. While Sidecar does carry a fair number of daily staples, it is unfortunately not complete enough to be your only grocery store. However, they do carry many items that other stores do not, and it all goes to a good cause.

Check them out at www.sidecarforpigspeace.com

Indulge your sweet tooth with an impressive selection of vegan candy.