Easy Meatless Monday Recipe - Spicy Coconut Noodles

Living in Portland, I don't cook as much as I used to. There's so much great, affordable vegan food here, and I have such a crummy little kitchen, I'm just not feeling the recipe-inventing love. However,  a lot of you ask me for easy vegan recipes to either help you get started on a plant-based path, or add variety to your already-vegan diet. I'm happy to help with that! A little research turns up hundreds of great, simple plant-based recipes. I know you don't have a lot of time to filter through all that, so I'll dig around for recipes that look like something I'd like to try in my minimal kitchen, and share them with you here. Hope it helps! Enjoy!

Spicy Coconut Noodles
from RealSimple.com

Here's what you'll need to have on hand:

rice noodles or fettuccine
unsweetened coconut milk
tomato paste
chili powder
kosher salt
chili paste or sauce (optional)
scallions, thinly sliced
bean sprouts
basil leaves, whole or torn
shredded coconut, toasted (optional)

Look good? I think so too!

Find the complete recipe at RealSimple.com.

I made it, and yes, it's good! To keep it simple, I first cooked a whole package (14 oz) of Thai Kitchen rice noodles in my large pot, according to package directions. While they cooked, I did the little bit of chopping required - scallions and basil - and assembled the other ingredients for the sauce. I had toasted some coconut earlier in the day, and it was a nice addition!

Once the noodles were done, I left them to drain in a colander and made the sauce in the same pot. I added a little tamari to the recipe, and next time I'll substitute peanut butter for some or all of the tomato paste. I stirred some of the bean sprouts, scallions, and basil into the sauce, then added the noodles. There was plenty of sauce for all those noodles.

It was delicious and quick to make. Yes, I'll make it again!

PDX Red Chile Sauce

Remember my recipe for red chile, Taos style? It's a sauce, not a bean-pot, for those of you who are not southwest savvy. I learned some tricks from some great Taos cooks in my years there, and the original recipe (Red Chile) is a forever favorite in my house. Moving to a new part of the country always inspires changes in old favorites, and the most recent is the Portland rendition of New Mexican red chile.

This is basically the same recipe, with just three little additions that make it, in my opinion, better than ever, and the official New Favorite.

PDX Red Chile

2 T coconut oil

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

3 T mild chile powder

1 tsp hot chile powder

2 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 T garlic, chopped

1 tsp sea salt or to taste

1 - 32 ounce carton vegetable broth

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

2 T maple syrup

1 cup frozen corn

2 T flax seed meal or chia seeds 

2 T arrowroot

Saute the onion in the oil until soft. Add the garlic and spices and cook for 2-3 minutes. Cooking the spices is important!

Add the broth, nutritional yeast, maple syrup, and corn, and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Add the flax meal and arrowroot, but don't worry about blending them in. Pour the whole thing into a blender or food processor that is made for hot liquids (like a Vitamix), and blend until smooth.

Pour the blended sauce back into the pan and let it cook over medium-low heat for a few more minutes. Use as an enchilada sauce, ladle it over "smothered" burritos and tofu scrambles, or use it as a base for a big ol' pot of chili beans.

This was a weirdly easy dinner... I had leftover hummus-and-veggie wraps, which I put in a baking pan, poured on Red Chile, and baked until they were hot. Instant enchiladas! They were surprisingly wonderful thanks to the PDX Red!

Note: If you don't have a Vitamix or other heat-compatible blender (NutriBullet is not good for this!!!), an immersion blender is a good substitute, plus you don't have to transfer hot liquid back and forth. Get one from Amazon for about $30.

Vegan Beer and Food Festival

I'm sure keeping busy with fun events these days! Find me at the Vegan Beer and Food Festival on September 26th. Seriously, what could be better? I'll be the one with food smudges all over her iPhone! Get your TICKETS HERE!

Portland Fashion Week Tickets

Portland Fashion Week TICKETS are on sale NOW! I'll be there for the duration, covering all things vegan. I have no idea how much that will be, but if it's there, I'll find it. And next year... maybe I can make even more happen!

Tickets are at Ticket Tomato

the Raw and the Cooked

The Raw and the Cooked... which is/was, among other things, the title of a Fine Young Cannibals album from back in 1990. Why does this matter? It doesn't. Not a hoot. But I still like the album, and it comes to mind every single time the subject of raw foods - as in the Raw Foods Movement - comes up.

Moving on.

I was asked by Fix.com to feature the following article. I looked it over, and thought it might be useful to some of you. Raw vs. Cooked is a much discussed area in the vegan world. If veggies are great, eating them all raw must be even better, right? Turns out, maybe not. I don't claim to know, but I think there's some good, useful information in the article, Demystifying the Raw Diet. Read it for yourself, and do what works best for your own beautiful body.

Pigging Out at DC Vegetarian

Picking up where Eating Vegan In Portland left off, Rick and I finally took a friend's suggestion and visited the DC Vegetarian food cart on SW 3rd Avenue in Portland, between Stark and Washington. We'd been told that their Vegan Bacon Cheeseburger was pretty incredible, so we stepped right up and ordered two. It was a good choice.

As the name implies, and the menu clearly states, DC Vegetarian does serve dairy cheese, but does not serve meat. That, of course, makes me (and piggies everywhere) very happy. Everything on the menu can be made vegan, and they give you the choice when you order. Plus, the burger patties and tempeh bacon are cart-made, which means they're distinctive and something the cart owners are proud of.

Get the full singing piggy video here.

We took our weighty bag of burgers over to Pioneer Courthouse Square for the big unwrapping, and found a little table overlooking the lunchtime crowds. I have to say, I was pretty excited to sink my teeth into this beauty.

And was it good? Well, here... what do you think?

Our lunch conversation consisted of chomping yum-yum noises, punctuated by exclamations like This is so good! and The patty is perfect! and It's just sloppy enough but still holds together! and The bacon is cooked just right! Not dried out! and This is even better than (several favorite places)! and finally... Did you get extra napkins?

Yeah, it was that good.

We'll be going back soon to try other things like the grilled cheese with all kinds of awesome additions, and the breakfast sandwiches. Yes, breakfast. Oh my my! But I have a hunch DC Vegetarian's Vegan Bacon Cheeseburger will be the thing I dream about and hike across town for whenever I need something that's just good old fashioned decadently delicious.

Portland Fashion Week, Vegan Style

I just found out I've been welcomed into the Portland Fashion Week "family" of bloggers, to report back on the food and drinks that will be available at the 4 day event, from a vegan perspective. I'm so excited I can hardly stand to be around myself! How did this happen? I think it's a pretty weird story, so I'll tell it. This is how my life works.

I had just spent the morning pouring over the Portland Fashion Week website, wondering when tickets would be available, wondering if I was missing a link because it said September first, and it was September first, and I couldn't figure out how to buy the darn tickets. I was also trying to decide just what to attend, purely from a thrill seeking fashion admiring perspective. It's expensive to go all 4 days, and of course I want at least some semi-VIP status. Sigh... the older I get, the less the cheap seats thrill me...

I gave up for a while, and moved on to something else, planning to go back later and sort out my ticket dilemma. I was listening to OmHarmonics, through my headphones as recommended, but not exactly meditating, which is what the music is designed for - deep meditation... I was actually cruising Facebook. Yeah. I know... I came across the picture below, which I had seen and ignored the day before. I had thought it was some kind of contest, and the very stylish pumps I own happen to be four floors into the earth, in storage, so they don't get banged up in my miniature closet.

This time, however, maybe because of the brain-altering music that was being piped into my head, I took a closer look, and saw it as an opportunity. I immediately fired off a short email pitch to PFW. I mean, who would be better than me to check out the vegan side of a huge fashion event in Portland? A few minute later I got a phone call, asking if I'd like to do some food blogging for them. I about fell out of my chair. Seriously, it was like magic.

I'm awaiting the details of my assignment, and hoping it includes a press pass and access to all the shows. My Big Idea, aside from covering the food and tasty beverages, which are all Portland-centric, and at least some of them plant-based, is to dig deeper into the fashion and the designers' visions of sustainable fashion. I figure there must be at least a few who are specifically, intentionally animal-friendly, as well as eco-friendly. That's the kind of fashion show this is. Hey, it's Portland!

I guess I'll go back to my "meditation" and see what pops up next. Meanwhile, check things out here from October 1-4. I'll be your vegan on the food (and fashion, I hope!) beat. You can also follow me on Facebook, as well as Instagram and Twitter (kimmilespdx). See you at Portland Fashion Week! My biggest question for now... What will I wear???