Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Portland in a Bowl

This is what Portland tastes like to me.


That there is the Spicy PDX Bowl of Goodness, a recipe recreation by the lovely Katie of Vegan Noms. More on what's in it in a sec. But first, some background: Katie, who lives in Ohio, and I hung out a bit at the first Vida Vegan Con in 2011 in Portland. And we hung out a lot more at the second Vida Vegan Con last year, also in Portland.

Both times, we went to the Bye and Bye, an all-vegan bar with a killer menu of sandwiches and bowls. And most importantly, they also have vegan Bloody Marys. Here are are Katie, myself, Paul, and Brit at the Bye and Bye in 2011.


That year, our first year VVC year, Paul and I both ordered the Eastern Bowl — nooch-coated tofu, broccoli, brown rice, and peanut sauce.


Paul ate his right away and proclaimed it one of the best vegan things he'd ever eaten. I ordered mine as the next day's breakfast and noshed on it in our hotel before flying home. It has all the elements of a great meal — a whole grain, tofu, nooch, and peanut sauce.

Well, thank goddess for Katie because she recreated this amazingness with her Spicy PDX Bowl. I used rainbow quinoa as my grain (but brown rice works too!). The tofu is marinated in a spicy soy sauce, baked, and tossed with nooch. And the sauce is made with the only ingredients in the world that truly matter — peanut butter, Vegenaise, and sriracha. A whopping whole tablespoon of sriracha!

Granted, Katie posted this recipe for the Spicy PDX Bowl of Goodness way back in 2011. And I'm just now getting around to trying it. But I've had a hankering for Portland lately. This did the trick. Now if only Katie could find a way to recreate Voodoo Doughnuts and Hungry Tiger Too corndogs, we'd be set.

By the way, if you're interested in the next Vida Vegan Con, it's all set for Austin in 2015! I've already bought my tickets. Vegan breakfast tacos, here I come!

5 comments:

June Burns said...

That looks great! Love the sriracha/veganaise sauce, mmm :)

Renard Moreau said...

[ Smiles ] In that case, they really know how to eat well in Portland.

Eileen said...

The Bye & Bye is the best! We always, always go when we're in Portland. Of course, my heritage order is the bbq brussels bowl, but still. :) I love this interpretation!

sarah@thesweetlife said...

I love bye and bye but I rarely go anymore so I do a lot of recreatios from their menu too! Next time you're in Portland you need to try their new all vegan bar, sweet hear after. See you in austin next may!

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

I'm 99% sure I'm finally going to VVC this year. The last 2 times, I've kicked myself for not going, so now's the time. Only slightly bummed that it'll be in Austin instead of Portland, but I've wanted to visit Austin, too, so still counts as a huge win! I missed the discounted tix, but the next round should be on sale soon.