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Doing some Christmas or Hanukkah shopping? Shop vegan!

9 Dec

There are a lot of great opportunities and tools out there this year to help you support vegan and local businesses in your holiday gift-shopping. Here are a few. Please comment with ones I’ve missed!

  • First off, anyone in or near Olympia on Sunday (December 11) should definitely go to the grand opening of Oly Vegan, Olympia’s newest vegan business! They’ll be open from 10am to 4pm at 313 5th Ave. Suite A. Be sure to take cash since they won’t yet be set up with a register, and take your own bag (maybe even donate a few if you have extras hanging around). Let’s help Lesli get off to a strong start so Oly Vegan can be a great resource for the south Puget Sound area!

  • If you’re in Portland, wrap up all your shopping in one block at the vegan mini-mall. Sweet and savory food items, books galore, clothing, cards, accessories–even tattoos, if you’re shopping for ink-lovers! Or if Northeast Portland is more convenient, shop (and eat and drink) your way down NE Alberta.

  • Further north? Seattle, of course, has lots of options as well. Here’s a great list of ideas for any budget, from Vegan Score.

  • Folks around Vancouver, BC, would be well advised to head to New Westminster to shop at Karmavore or Shine, or maybe Pacific Breeze Winery for some delicious vegan wine. Here’s my write-up about each of those places, which I visited on The Hungry Taurus‘s awesome vegan bike tour a few months ago.

  • For local or online shopping, be sure to browse the holiday shopping guide from Vegan Cuts: A 25-page, magazine-style guide to all kinds of vegan gift ideas, including lots of coupon codes to make it easier to buy from even more great businesses.

  • Wherever you are, don’t forget your local farmers’ markets for gifts. Many now sell locally produced wine and hard (and fresh) cider, and since you’re buying right from the producers you can ask whether they use any non-vegan stuff in their processing. Also look for dried fruit, dried flowers, handmade confections (ask about vegan options–you may be pleasantly surprised!), nuts, dried herbs and spices, vinegars, cooking oils, and lots more. You can do your grocery shopping at the same time as your gift shopping, and support local farmers to boot. What could be better?

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Early-autumn dinner: Spaghetti squash with pesto and marinated tempeh

25 Sep

Despite today’s blustery, sometimes wet weather Jud and I had a great time spending all kinds of money with local farmers (and even a local vintner) at the Ballard Farmers Market. When the cash ran out, it was obviously time to cook and eat!

Here are basic outlines of recipes; just let me know if you want any more detail.

  • Roasted spaghetti squash topped with freshly made pesto. Instead of directly replacing the parmesan, I used two ordinary green olives (minus the pimento stuffers) per 1/4 pound of basil to add a little saltiness and tang. First time trying that, but I’d do it again!

  • Tempeh marinated in equal amounts red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar and EVOO plus dab of Dijon, a pinch of salt and a pinch of dried rosemary and a couple good grinds of pepper. After marinating (about 45 minutes cut to half thickness before cutting triangles) it was baked at 350 about 30 minutes, turning once.

  • Roasted broccoli, tossed with just EVOO, salt and pepper and then roasted about 30 minutes, stirring once or twice.

It all hit the spot after lots of delicious-but-greasy-and-starchy restaurant food this weekend, and the skies stayed clear long enough to enjoy it with sun on the stoop.

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Linguine with Fresh Tomatoes and Basil

18 Aug

On Saturday, the folks staffing the Alm Hill stand at the University District Farmers Market knew just how to draw in summer-starved Seattle shoppers, and they put this table right out front:

With tomatoes so vexingly hard to grow in this climate, there was no shortage of people hovering around that table–grabbing up the glowing, red rarities–and of course I was one of them.

Tonight I turned those tomatoes and basil into a simple, quick topping for linguine.

Ingredients per serving:

1 large clove garlic, minced or sliced
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
a dash or several hot chili flakes (optional)
2 baseball-sized ripe tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped
pinch salt
2-3 large Italian basil leaves, cut in slivers

Linguine or other pasta

Start by boiling the water for the pasta, and make the sauce while the pasta cooks.

Heat oil in a skillet (at least 10″) over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and pepper flakes, if using, and sauté briefly until the garlic just starts to turn golden. Add the tomatoes and salt, and cook 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are softened about halfway, and the juice is cooking down just a bit with the garlic and oil. Toss in the basil and stir to combine. Serve hot over the pasta, or serve with crostini instead.

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