Saturday, January 28, 2012

The Great Vegan Portland Food Tour

Classmates. Me, Derek, James.

Portland is behind me - I'm back in Southern California after my month-long Family Medicine rotation. I'm glad to be back of course, and to have safely made the 16 hour drive, but I will miss the rain, my family, and of course the food.

Although I was just trying eat well, I think I undertook a subconscious informal challenge to try as many different places as possible. Since the clerkship subsidized some of our food on campus, I ate most frequently at the all-vegan Living Well Bistro at Portland Adventist - I ended up trying about 11 dishes. The parfait was my favorite. I also tried to venture out to other popular places.

Although they're almost all East of the river, I think I did a pretty good job of at least touring my neighborhood. Some have their own reviews in previous posts, but the later ones are newer.

Total count: 15 different establishments. And I would eat again at every single one.

Vegan Portland: A Photo Farewell


1. Prasad


2. Blossoming Lotus

Salad

Live Pizza

3. Porque No?

Bean and Rice bowl.

4. Papa G's
Mac and Cheese, BBQ Tofu, Spaghetti Squash

5. Voodoo Doughnuts
Oreo, Chocolate frosting, Peanut butter drizzle

6. The Sweet Hereafter
Jamaican Bowl w/ avocado

7. Off the Griddle


Smokey Bleu

8. Vita Cafe

Basic Burger with Tempeh Bacon and vegan cheese

Irish Oatmeal Cake

9. AND Cafe


Blue Corn Waffle with Smoked Molasses syrup


10. Whole Bowl



11. Laughing Planet Cafe

Cuban bowl - Sweet potatoes, plantains and tofu


12. Paradox Cafe

Roasted Vegetable on Ciabatta


13. Dove Vivi
Rachael.


1/2 Corn Cashew, 1/2 Vegetable Pizza


14. Bob's Red Mill Restaurant/Bakery/Store



Vegan French Toast

15. Living Well Bistro

BBQ Tofu

Parfait with Pecan Cream

Coconut Juice + Aloe pulp

Portobello Vegan Pizza on Naan.

Black Bean Veggie Wrap

Pecan Sticky Bun, fresh fruit.

Live Pasta

Soy Ginger Wrap

Tofu Scramble with Dave's Killer Bread

Mint Chocolate Brownie

Blueberry Streusel Muffin

Garden Veggie Wrap

I cannot possibly pick favorites, but I'm very glad I had the opportunity to try so many different things. And now I've returned to my lovely kitchen full of ideas for my homemade food.

Ever eaten in Portland? What's your favorite?

Monday, January 23, 2012

Tachy Med Student: Family Medicine Rotation

Portland Reservoir

I've spent the past month here in Portland doing a family medicine rotation, and now it's almost time to go back to Southern California and move along into my next rotation - Internal Medicine.

I wrote a post for the Loma Linda Blog about some of my thoughts on the rotation - if you're interested you can check it out here

If you have any questions about the rotation up here, ask away!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

What I Ate Wednesday: The Final Portland Week


As always a big thanks to Jenn at Peas and Crayons!


This time next week I'll be on a very long drive back to Southern California, so it's my last Wednesday here in the Northwest. The Family Medicine rotation will end, I'll take a couple tests, and then it's on to Internal Medicine.

Here in Portland it's like the vegan promised land - there are way more restaurant options than Loma Linda, and my badge gets me food at the vegan bistro, but there's not much of a kitchen, so my eating habits have really shifted to much less home-prepared things (except when I'm home with my family). 

I've loved trying so many new things, but I have missed my nice kitchen. I'm in no rush and I'll be sad to leave, but it's nice to have that to look forward to. Today though is another day of eating out.

I woke up to this outside my window. Okay, it's nothing if you're from New England, but it's a big deal when I've been in Southern California for 7 years.


And it's my day off, so I didn't have to drive in it. 

Breakfast: Pecan Sticky Bun, Fresh fruit. From the Living Well Bistro. I've been eyeing the bakery case here for a while, and as it's my day off, I decided to celebrate with something a little sweeter for breakfast. The best part was definitely the pecans on top.


Lunch: Black Bean Veggie Wrap. Also from the Living Well Bistro. I'm an addict. This was very fresh and didn't look like that much, but surprisingly filling. I probably would have been happy with half.


Dinner: Portobello Pizza. This has portobello, daiya mozzerella, marinara and carmelized onions on crispy naan - baked in a brick oven. I wish the picture were prettier, but I took it to go, in the dark. When she gave it to me, the woman at the restaurant said, "It's perfectly done. You can tell by the way it slices." And she was right.


Snack: An apple.


Look out for next week ... a day of road trip eating.

Do you mostly eat out or home-cooked?