Portland Hodgepodge

TLT Sandwich from Vita Café. Can you believe that I've never had tempeh before? I bought tempeh a few months ago to make bacon with, but I cut it too thinly, it fell apart, and I gave up. But after having the tempeh bacon at Vita, I am ready to try again. My only complaint is that it was $6 for only a sandwich. If you are going to charge me $6 for a sandwich, it needs to either be the best sandwich in the world or it needs to come with a dill pickle and some fries. Or I need to be really hungry after a 4.5 hour flight.

I don't have a picture of the Paradox Benedict that I had at the Paradox Organic Cafe because it was rather dim in there and it was a dish that was obviously going to look gross in a photograph. It wasn't gross though! At first I balked at the $8.50 price tag, but I ended up having enough left over for breakfast the next day so it wasn't that bad. The sauce did not taste anything like hollandaise sauce, but it was good in its own right (just not what I was expecting). The dish came with seasoned red potatoes (take a hint, Vita) that were just the right mix of crispy and greasy - exactly what I'm looking for when it comes to diner food.

At the Whole Foods in Portland, I found something that I have been searching for but unable to find in Chicago - a Field Roast smoked tomato loaf. I had high standards for this loaf, due to my previous fruitless searches, and it definitely lived up to them. Sliced up, it made a nice addition to an Amy's vegan pizza and I also made a "dreamwich" consisting of Dave's Killer Bread, smoked tomato loaf, Vegenaise, and Dijon mustard. I loved that sandwich. I'm not saying that it breaks my heart to remember it, but I am saying that I hate the Whole Foods that I go to for only carrying the Field Roast sausages and not the loaves. WHY, WHOLE FOODS, WHY?!

Sprinkled donut from Voodoo Doughnut. I wish that I had a Sweetpea donut to compare this to, but I don't so let's move on. This donut was cakey, which I like but other people might not (although I can't see why anyone wouldn't). I think there were 7 different kinds of vegan donuts when I went to Voodoo, which is a nice variety. I'm not sure if the kinds vary from day-to-day, though that would be a nice touch if they do. My only real issue with Voodoo is that they make lots of crazy donuts, but the vegan donuts are relatively standard fare (other than being vegan). Other than that, very yummy AND they are open 24 hours. Plus you can get Swahili lessons from their Fryer every Monday at 9pm.

Sweetpea Baking Company

I have read a lot about how amazing Sweetpea Baking Company is so it was on the top of my list of places to go while in Portland. My vacation fell on Father's Day and I thought it would be really awesome of me to get my dad a cake (I'm kind of the best daughter ever - Hi, Dad!) - not an easy task considering my veganism and his multiple allergies. So I called up Sweetpea and explained my dilemma to Lisa (the owner). They only make vegan goods so I didn't need to mention that, but I needed the cake to be gluten-free, soy-free, and banana-free as well. That seemed like a pretty tall order to me but Lisa was basically like, "Of course we can make that! *carefree laughter*" Excitement! Anticipation!

The cake was chocolate with coconut frosting. I knew it would be good because Sweetpea prides itself on how good their gluten-free goods (do you know how hard it is to find yummy vegan AND gluten-free goodies? VERY HARD.). I completely underestimated just how good this cake was going to be. My dad said that this was the best gluten-free cake he had ever had - a big compliment considering the many cake experiments that have gone on in our house after his allergies were diagnosed. He also liked the spiky icing. Seriously. Delicious. Cake.

This was the only thing I bought from Sweetpea while on my trip because I was totally overwhelmed by all their choices! And because I am a fool! However, I'll be moving to Portland in a couple months and then I can spend everyday with my face pressed against their window. And I'll just say that if they want to hire me to taste test their food... well... I certainly wouldn't refuse.

Portland Junk Food

I recently spent a week in what may or may not be the vegan capital of the world - Portland, Oregon. At the very least, it is the vegan capital of my heart. I ate quite a lot of delicious things, so I'm going to make a few separate posts. This entry is going to be devoted to the Wednesday that I ate tons of delicious junk food.

Oh, and all of my food choices in Portland were heavily influenced by Stumptown Vegans. Their reviews did not let me down!

Nachos are not a photogenic food. These were probably more attractive when the bowl was full, but I maybe got so distracted by the deliciousness of Food Fight's nachos that I totally forgot to take a picture until they were almost gone. I have been craving these nachos everyday! Nachos were not something I really enjoyed as an omnivore, but these were delicious. I don't know what they put in their vegan cheese - my guess is tears of happiness from a unicorn (freely given, not harvested). Even my cheese-loving brother thought that these were yummy.

Outside of the People's Food Co-op, there is a cute metal trailer with vintage wallpaper and vegan milkshakes/smoothies/juice inside. The guy ahead of us in line was a total jerk, which I didn't think was possible. I mean, who can be cranky when there are vegan milkshakes RIGHT THERE? Mr. Grumpypants did not dampen the mood of the guy making the drinks though. It seems like the people who work in the food carts in Portland are the happiest people on earth.

Anyway. I had the peanut butter & chocolate shake and, holy crap, it was amazing. And it didn't make me violently ill like the dairy-filled shakes of yesteryear! They were out of vegan whipped cream so my shake was a ridiculous dollar cheaper. I've never had vegan whipped cream, but I can't imagine anything that would significantly improve this shake - that's how perfect it was.

My brother had a smoothie that might have been called Sabana, I don't remember. I asked him to do a guest review so here it is: "So tasty!" Thanks, little brother!

These fries are from the Potato Champion cart. The guy working the cart further proved my point that Portland cart workers are filled with joy. He seemed to really love making fries! He was all out of pre-packaged Vegenaise, so he had to make a new cup for me and it was filled to the brim. I found that very endearing. I also had rosemary truffle ketchup, which was better than I expected but still not quite to my taste. I prefer to eat fries with a beautiful mix of Vegenaise, dijon mustard, and regular ketchup. But back to these fries! I used to say that cheese fries were my favorite food and while my tastes have become slightly more refined, I can easily say that these are my all-time favorite fries.

Herbed breadsticks and marinara sauce from Hammy's. These were good. It's really nice that they are vegan friendly. They make their own vegan parmesan, which I would have liked to try but I wasn't hungry enough for pizza. Maybe I should have asked them to sprinkle some into my hands, but I don't like to frighten the people who are making my food.

I can't think of anything else to say because I am still shocked that I ate fries and breadsticks for dinner. Because I was too full after having nachos for lunch and a milkshake in the afternoon. I think I had an Amy's burrito for breakfast. I don't eat like that! Whatever, I was on vacation, if I want to eat all of Portland's best junk food in one day then that is my prerogative!