Review: Lazy Bones Barbecue

Vegan Barbecue in Spokane? Oh, yes! I've been hearing a lot about Lazy Bones the past few months. At first I just ignored the place, but then a friend told me they have vegan offerings. In addition to the usual fare, they serve Small Planet tofu. They cook all vegetarian items on a separate grill, so you needn't worry about your bean curd hangin' out in pork juices (gross!). The veg*n menu also offers a nice variety of vegan sides, like mac-n-cheese.

After much anticipation, we finally made a visit to the Upper South Hill restaurant today. The atmosphere is very casual, but inviting, with counter service. My son and I both ordered the Tofu Plate; he chose a side of vegan mac-n-cheese and I ordered the sweet potato fries and a bottle of Fat Tire (which according to Barnivore.com, is vegan). The north side of the building is lined with garage doors. Since it was a lovely afternoon, the doors were open and we decided to dine on the patio.

I suspect they cook the tofu to order, as it took a little while for our meals to arrive. But it was worth the wait. The Tofu Plate came with two slabs of tofu (with a dry rub and BBQ sauce slathered on top), a side of vinegar slaw, a slice of grilled bread with olive oil and a choice of side. The tofu was perfectly cooked and seasoned with a slightly sweet and spicy flavor. The slaw had a lot of flavor and was great when combined with the tofu. My sweet potato fries were delicious, but had maybe a touch too much salt. My son loved the vegan mac-n-cheese. I haven't found a recipe yet that he likes, but he loved this stuff. I thought it was pretty good myself, although it is definitely not mac-n-cheese. The sauce was more like an alfredo than the traditional yellow cheese. And with a lot of visible oil, it is not a healthy side dish.

All in all, the meal was wonderful. We'll be going back soon to try more of the menu items. The Lentil Apple Salad, Grilled Veggie Kebab and BBQ Tofu Slab Sandwich especially caught my interest. My only regret is that I didn't have my camera with me. Oh well, next time!

**Update: The in-store menu does not jive with the online version. If you go, you'll want to spend some time getting yourself familiar with the menu before ordering.

SpoVegan Bake Sale: Because Factory Farming is Shitty

The Spokane Vegans will be selling cruelty-free goodies this weekend to benefit One World Spokane!

Friday: @ the Community Building/KYRS 35 W Main from 7 - 9pm

Saturday: @ Caterina Winery 907 N Washington & the Community Building/KYRS 35 W Main from 7 - 9pm

Cookies $1
Brownies $2
Cupcakes $2
Fudgacado $2

*Poster design and screen printing by Joe Preston - Thanks, Joe and Leah!

Waste Not...

What do you do with week old brownies? Top them off with Cappuccino flavored Coconut Bliss and fresh strawberries! I made brownies last week for some unknown reason. (I'm currently helping plan a vegan bake sale and have had so many goodies around me it's ridiculous!) Half the pan of brownies have been sitting uneaten on the counter wrapped up, but have gone a little stale. I hate throwing food out, so stale brownies were the perfect excuse to pick up some Coconut Bliss at Fresh Abundance today. Actually, my son has a sore throat, so the ice cream was really for him... At any rate, this was a perfect combination! The ice cream softened the brownies and the strawberries were simply delightful. I love summer.

Update: food-related goals for 2009

In February, I set some food-related goals for myself this year. Four months later, I've accomplished one goal, am working on another and have let one go. My first goal was to grow my own soybeans. This didn't happen for a couple of reasons:
1. I don't have any land, or even a balcony to use for a container garden.
2. I have a black thumb, and from what I've read about growing beans organically, they can be tricky.

OK, so I really didn't even try to meet that first goal. I need to do some research on organic gardening and secure a place to grow these little gems of protein. I really would like to have a small garden next year, even if it's just a container garden.

My second goal was to find myself a soymilk maker, and that I did! I had done some pricing online and was a little surprised to find out just how expensive soymilk makers can be. Then I remembered I have a membership to our local Freecycle. Last week I posted a request for a soymilk maker in the group and had a response within hours. It seems that a local family had purchased this little appliance and only used it a couple of times. This was a win-win-win situation. They got a little more space cleared in their closet, I saved money by not having to buy the soymilk maker and we kept another perfectly good appliance out of the landfills! I haven't made any soymilk yet, because I'm still finishing my store-bought stuff, but I'm sure I'll be writing about my first attempt.

Number five on my list of goals is to eat/buy more local and organic produce. Thanks to my bi-weekly Fresh Produce Variety Box from Fresh Abundance, I'm keeping good on this promise. I started getting my variety box every other week in May and am so thankful I finally did this! I've always struggled with keeping fresh fruit in my house and I tend to rely on the same three or four favorite veggies in my kitchen. Now I get a variety of fresh (and seasonal!) fruit and am introduced to new vegetables. At just $35 a box, this is not only a cost-saving arrangement for me, I'm also helping support a local business and local farmers. Again, win-win-win!

My other goals include:

Make my own wine
Experiment more with gluten-free baking
Get myself some good kitchen knives
Make my own tofu

I'll let you know how I do accomplishing these other goals. On that note, does anyone know where I can get some wine grapes this fall?

Dinner, as usual

Dinner at my house on a week night is usually a variation of this simple idea and is based on whatever I have in the fridge and cupboards. Since I started getting my bi-weekly Fresh Produce Variety box from Fresh Abundance, I get a good selection of fresh veggies every other week. It also keeps my meals season appropriate and helps me avoid getting stuck in the ruts of relying on the same two or three favorite veggies. Actually, I picked up all the ingredients here but the olive oil at Fresh Abundance. I have a tendency to not only find myself using the same vegetables again and again, but also the same herbs and spices. Last fall I fell in love with oregano and used it in almost anything. Lately, I've found myself using gomasio on everything. The combination of sesame seeds and seaweed is a nice addition to veggies or tofu and reduces the amount of salt needed.

Here's the basic recipe for one of our dinners from last week. Use whatever veggies are sitting in your crisper, grains you have in the cupboard and your favorite seasonings. I use quinoa and rice noodles a lot because they are much quicker to cook than rice.

What you'll need:

1/2 box stir-fry rice noodles
1 package lemongrass ginger Small Planet tofu, drained and cubed
2 small heads broccoli, chopped
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
1 t sesame oil, or to taste
gomasio to taste
tamari (or soy sauce) to taste
olive oil, to coat pan

Method:

Bring large pot of water to boil. While waiting for water to boil, heat large frying pan (or wok, if you have one) and coat with olive oil. Add rice noodles to water, stir, remove from heat and cover. Let noodles sit for about five minutes, or until soft, but not squishy. When noodles are done, drain and rinse with cold water. Transfer back to pot, or serving dish and coat with sesame oil and gomasio, set aside. When frying pan is heated, add onions to saute for about a minute. Add tofu to pan to brown slightly and then add broccoli. Cook until broccoli is tender, but still crunchy and has that nice vibrant green color. Serve veggies and tofu over rice noodles, add tamari and gomasio to taste. Enjoy!

Spokane Vegans

About a year ago, I started organizing monthly vegan potlucks for Spokane Vegans and am so encouraged by the growth we've had. When I started the group, I only knew one other vegan in Spokane and now I've made friends with several other veg*ns through out the Inland Northwest. It's nice not to feel so alone, but most importantly, we're building a community and developing a vegan culture in a place that didn't really have one before. I admit that the idea of starting the group was daunting at first, not knowing what kind of response there would be, but the results have been so rewarding! We have such a unique opportunity to really build a vegan community from the ground up and connect with other conscious eaters. The Inland Northwest has so much to offer in the way of sustainable agriculture and is something we veg*ns can encourage and support. Businesses like Fresh Abundance and restaurants like Picabu and Mizuna already serve the (growing) Spokane veggie community well. Now it's time to encourage other area business owners and restaurateurs to do the same - and I hope to see Spokane Vegans start doing this.

I'm really excited about the future of our group. We've just made the switch from Meetup.com to a mailing list format with a supporting group blog and Facebook group. There is talk of starting a vegan/food-conscious reading group and a pet-sitting network. I'd really like to see the group develop some visibility within the community at large and become more active in making Spokane a decidedly veggie-friendly city. I know we've all heard it a thousand times, but this quote from Mahatma Gandhi still inspires me: "Be the change you want to see in the world."

*For more information, or to get involved, please email spovegan [at] gmail [dot] com

distracted

i haven't been so creative with my cooking lately, but have been doing some vegan-related things. i'll share those in another post. but for now, here's something mildly related to veganism, if only because i'm vegan and it was my flub...
that used to be a Pyrex 9 x 13 in. glass baking pan. yes, Pyrex can break.