It's Caturday!

A little image for use in store merchandising. What do you think?

Best dish ever? Really?

So dinner tonight consisted of lentils, rice, and coconut greens. The rice was just rice. The lentils, boiled in water with a glob of margarine and salt until the water is all absorbed. But the greens were the show stopper. I was surprised that everyone gobbled them up to the point where there were no left overs and people were pissed! Here it is, my recipe for coconut greens.

1 bunch of kale torn
1 bunch chard chopped
1 cup diced carrots
1 can of coconut milk
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 a medium onion chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic minced
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp red chili flakes
2 tsp salt

Boil kale and carrots in a big pot of water for about 6 minutes. While it's boiling, saute the garlic and onion in oil in a skillet. add chili flakes and tumeric to the onion and garlic. Saute for about 1 minute. Add can of coconut milk and simmer. Now add the chard to the kale and carrots. Boil for about 3 minutes more. Drain the carrots, kale and chard and return to the pot. Add the coconut milk mixture to the kale mixture and stir it all together. That's it folks. Enjoy!

Dear Facebook - I hate you!

So i wanted to follow some blogs that looked interesting. I finally figured out that they are somehow facebook related. In order for me to follow these blogs, I need to create a facebook acct. No big deal right? facebook is just like myspace, right? UGH! Not the case! I tried to sign up, I really did. but facebook doesn't like my name apparently. And once I did get signed up, by claiming to be a celebrity, facebook would not let me add any friends! I seriously dont get it and have had similar wonky experiences with trying to use it in the past. Why facebook? Whay did I ever do to you? Why can't you be easy to use and intuative? If anyone reading this feels pity for me and wants to help me get started on facebook, I'd be eternally grateful! But I've just wasted an hour of my life and I have to get ready for roller derby practice. Peace out!

Recipe of the day: Vegan Shepherds Pie

Shepherds Pie, a traditional English heart attack. Quick to make and great for chilly nights. If you are pressed for time, use vegan instant mashed potatoes instead of mashing your own. And you can sub 1 cup of ketchup for the tomato paste mixture. This recipe is super kid friendly. Enjoy!

FILLING
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1 package Smart Ground by Light Life (my fav, any other brand will work too, in a pinch, you can even use thawed veggie burgers that are chopped up fine. 4 is a good amount.)
1 onion chopped
1 Tbs minced garlic
2 Tbs cooking oil
2 Tbs tomato paste
1 Tbs white vinegar
1 tsp sugar
3/4 cup water
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce (there are vegan ones out there!)
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 cup corn (fresh, frozen or canned)
3/4 cup carrots (fresh, frozen or canned)
3/4 cup sweet green peas (fresh, frozen or canned)

TOPPING
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5-6 big russet potatoes peeled and chopped
soy creamer
margarine
salt to taste

Boil potatoes in big stock pot for about 8 minutes. While they are boiling, saute the onion and garlic in the oil for about 3 minutes. Then add the Smart Ground, mix in well. In a bowl, blend the tomato paste, vinegar, sugar and water until mixed. Pour over mixture in pan, stir to mix well. Now stir in remaining filling ingredients. Cover and simmer over med-low heat for about 10 minutes. Add water if filling gets too thick.

Now start on your mashed potato topping. Drain potatoes in a strainer, return to pot. Add about 2-3 Tbs of margarine and a bit of salt to the potatoes and start mashing with a wooden spoon. Add a splash of soy creamer at a time just until you get the right consistency. By adding small amounts of creamer at a time, you can avoid having soupy potatoes. By now, the filling should be ready. Spread it into a well greased casserole dish. Now the mashed potato gets spread on top. Place casserole dish into a 350 degree oven and bake for about 45 minutes. You can add your favorite chz alternative on top before baking if you like.

EAT @ 3808 N. Williams

Lunch today @ EAT Oyster Bar on North Williams. It was pretty good. Not spectacular. The decor was nice, a mix of modern and vintage tables and chairs, tiled bars and heavy wood shelves. It did have a New Orleans quality to it. We met the owner, Tobias. He was very nice and made us some sweet iced tea even though it was not yet on the menu. After a few minutes, it was clear that they had only been open for a few days. I was beyond disappointed to see there was only 1 vegan choice on the menu (fried okra). The okra was over-fried so that the batter was fried off. The vegetarian choice was a french fry po-boy. Tobias said they were popular in New Orleans. Honestly I had never seen or heard of them before today. I really can't imagine that most vegetarians would want to eat french fries on their sandwich instead of next to it. Carb overload!

I'm by no means an oyster po-boy expert, but I was born and raised in New Orleans and have eaten hundreds of them in my life. EAT's sandwich was just ok. It was not authentic. It was dressed with a spicy mayo, tomato slices and chopped cabbage. A real oyster po-boy is only dressed with mayo and shreaded iceberg lettuce. I understand that might not appeal to Portlanders though. I will certainly try EAT again, but Im going to give it a few months before I do, let them get the menu worked out. My grade for EAT B-