So, I've been slacking...

But, to be fair, there's not much to report. Well, other than every other (formerly) veg-friendly restaurant in the Midtown area swapping their menu around and becoming more and more meat-heavy. I'm looking at you, Bear Tooth (Grill side), and you, too, Taproot (once the home of the BEST vegan portlbello mushroom cap burger in town!).

Does the world really need one more 'bacon-wrapped'-anything? Do we need any more cheese-steeped-in-cream-and-more-cheese sauce? I mean, come on, Anchorage. You're one of two major college towns in Alaska, and you're cutting back on veg-friendly items? Le sigh...

In other news, I am also trying to hammer out (pun intended) a bunch of house projects before snow flies, and getting ready for another semester of prerequisites, and working too much, and, and, and....

There are other things. Like the fact that I'm becoming discouraged with people that I've known for over fifteen years. People that I'd believed in, and trusted. Who told me that they believed in an evidence-based approach to EVERYTHING...except, apparently, the effects their diet has on the impoverished (I am speaking of the countries that produce cereals/grains for animals that are butchered), the environment, their bodies, the ever-dwindling water supply on this one inhabitable planet of ours. 

When asked for citations and proof of their proudly-touted "scientific fact" that humans are meant to be omnivorous, they get irrationally angry, and call me antagonistic. When I mention there is at least as much data supporting a vegan diet as more healthy than an omnivorous one (after being asked for my proof), they tell me that I'm shoving my "personal beliefs" down their throat. Is there no way out of this impasse? I don't believe in 'unfriending' people for a difference in opinion, but I do not believe in not calling someone on what, to me, is blatant hypocrisy. 

Suggestions? Comments? Constructive criticism? I'm all ears.

Middle Way Cafe - food review, and a 'favorite', revisited

Hit up Middle Way (MWC or Mid-Way) next to REI on Northern Lights, this past weekend. It had been a while, and they usually have some awesome vegan food. Actually, they tend to have a little something for every possible dietary need or restriction, making it a good place to go to brunch/lunch, with just about anybody. Just don't expect mimosas. That's Snow City territory. Anyway...

They've been branching out, trying new things in culinary experimentation/gastronomy, particularly in the vegan, gluten-free, and/or vegan AND gluten-free realms. Some raving successes:

• Their Unicorn Bowls, in any permutation. Usually includes steamed greens, some kind of steamed whole grain, edamame or beans, a balsamic or Liquid Bragg's reduction of some kind, fresh veggies and some fruit. No two are really the same, from week to week, and it's nice change of pace. Very much a whole-foods, plant-based approach, with very little oil, if any.
• The Mushroom Poke dish. Again, a melange of greens (kale is a favorite), grains, garlic, served up with a variety of mushrooms - some of which are specialty or could be classed as 'wild' - in a slow-simmered sauce with caramelized onions and fresh veggies - carrots, beet matchsticks...you name it.
• The Avo Melt, with Daiya mozza shreds. I can't have avocado - allergic; a tragedy, I know - but my partner tells me it's one of the better sandwiches of its type, that she's had. Being that she's an avocado fanatic, I will take her word on that. 

This weekend, it was their stuffed portobellos, with a side of  grilled radicchio salad. 

First, the side salad: it was positively everything I could have wanted out of a bitter greens salad of its type. The leaves were just wilted, still slightly warm, with enough of a crunch left in them to be satisfying. It was melded with ribbons of roasted red pepper and sauteed yellow onion, topped off with some alfalfa sprouts, and brought together by a balsamic reduction vinaigrette, that had a hint of citrus. Excellent. 

The portobellos: First off, the caps were...ah...small. More like middle-to-large cremini mushrooms, in terms of size. There were two, so it's not as though numbers made up for the lack. But, they were well-braised in the basil/balsamic/tomato sauce. The filling was more bits of mushroom cap, aforementioned sauce, and some garlic. 

They were topped off with some sprigs of fresh basil, and mandoline-thin slices of parmesan, which was not anywhere in the description - and MWC is pretty sensitive about their ingredients listing, so I was very surprised. Got about one-third of the way through one of the caps, and found...bits of meat, in the sauce. Again, it was nowhere on the ingredients list, and Middle Way is very conscientious about making sure its ingredients are fully listed...well, every other time, except this one, apparently. 

Overall, I was not impressed with the main dish, with or without the advent of finding meat and cheese, in it. The sauce was good, but it lacked depth and complexity of flavor, and the overall experience, given finding animal ingredients, was not positive. 

However, Middle Way Cafe is one of the few places in town that will positively bend over backwards if you're wanting to veganize something, so, six one, half-dozen, the other? Time will tell. They're still a mainstay of my social dining places list, since almost anyone can find something that agrees with them, there.

In other MWC news, their breakfast items are amazing. Such as their vegan whole grain short stack, and their Colours tofu stack. I do wish they'd bring back their 'classic' breakfast burrito, but, patience. 

So, we decided to go for Korean food...

I should probably start this post with the fact that my partner and I have been living in Anchorage about three years, now, and are just starting to explore the little niches that make urban living, worth it. I say "worth it", because we were previously forest hermits in Fairbanks, twelve miles outside of Fairbanks, proper, in that little haven called Goldstream Valley. Anyway, it has been an interesting couple of year adapting to our new surroundings, up to and including our little slice of what I like to call suburbia hell. Soon to come: a post on our new-found life mission of, "get rid of the grass and grow some food".
Back on topic: we've been ranging out, trying to discover what great little spots there are within walking distance - and redefining 'walking distance', in the process. So far, we've discovered that Red Robin actually carries Boca patties - probably not a revelation for some, but it was for me. The local hipster dives in our neighborhood are more like biking distance, but Midnight Sun Brewery has an AWESOME hummus and veggie sandwich (named Peace Out); and when they have tofu (not of late, though), there are tacos to be had, of the epic variety, with fresh muddled-avo guac, house pico, and great, great, unfiltered, vegan-friendly beers. 

Our latest discovery is Korean Garden, a well-appointed little place in a strip mall off Dimond. I love Korean food, and was totally stoked to learn there was a restaurant that specialized in it, so close by. I ordered the only things that did not list meat as ingredients - a vegetable roll (sushi-style, and literally labeled, 'vegetable roll'), and tofu jige (piping hot kimchi stew with tofu). My partner, being the wiser of the two of us, specifies "no meat, no eggs", in her dish. 

The veggie roll arrives, and it is stuffed with rice, carrots, steamed spinach, pickled daikon radish......vienna sausage, eggs, surimi (fake crab), and fish cake. I get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Our main dishes arrive, and Dael's bibimbap is perfectly meat and egg-free, complete with hot sauce and hot stone bowl, but her side soup (daikon), is comprised mostly of smoked pork broth. Mine? Smells off, as soon as I get a whiff. What I find - tofu, kimchi, onions, assorted veggies, rice starch cake...and about a cup-and-a-half of full-fat shredded smoked pork loin. My fault for not specifying "no meat" (even if it wasn't listed in the ingredients), but I get the feeling that it would have tasted of pig, anyway. Hope you enjoy your treats, Bou and Lacuna. I don't think we'll be going back there. Much better luck at VIP in Midtown, where they are more familiar with vegetarian diets, at the very least.

Moral of the story: ASSUME NOTHING, and go to VIP in Midtown Anchorage, if you want vegan Korean food. 

So, there are vegans in Alaska.

Hi! Taylor, here. After a little over six years as a vegan, and a life-long Alaskan, I've decided I've garnered enough experience, in both, to comment effectively on how one of these aspects of life may affect the other. 

I'm going to try posting once or twice a week, about my experiences finding certain products, the odd recipe, dining out, and dealing with people that have moved to Alaska "for the experience" (which usually means hunting, fishing, and 'subsistence'). Being as I'm fairly new at this, I am more than happy to take suggestions, answer questions, and try to be a resource for anyone traveling to Alaska, looking for vegan-friendly establishments, etc. 


A bit about myself: I'm a 30-something, born-and-raised Alaskan "gay girl", who is emphatically anti-Pebble (but I did work four years in the mineral exploration and mining industries, oddly enough). I hold a Bachelor's in Russian Studies, and once had ambitions of working for the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer, before I developed (very strong) opinions of my own. I've maintained a committed relationship for seven years, and my partner and I have two goats (pets, of course), a cat (reformed feral), and a dog (rescue), that we love and dote on, spoiled things that they are. 

I have been involved with various lines of employment/service. These include, but are not limited to: blood collections (blood banking); food service/espresso; commercial truck driver; municipal harbor cleanup crew and patrol; janitorial staff; Public Assistance eligibility technician (think food stamps); remote site medic, and, most recently, telemetry technician (monitoring and interpreting cardiac rhythms and vital signs for as many as thirty patients) on an ICU here, in Anchorage. I have ambitions to become a trauma nurse, or a doctor of emergency medicine...not sure which, yet

I grew up in the great outdoors, and love kayaking, rock climbing, hiking, wildlife watching, and other such activities. I also have a goal to learn more about mountain biking, than just simple single-track, this year, and LOVE my bicycle commute to work and errands, every day. I try to drive as little as possible, all seasons, and finished my first successful winter of ice/snow biking, thanks to Nokian Hakka bike studs!

Enough about me - I'm interested in knowing more about what any vegans would like to know about life in Alaska. More than happy to address any and all of those topics, here, in addition to whatever subjects I might stumble upon, in my spare time. Please, feel free to ask questions, comment, and suggest topics. I look forward to meeting you, whoever "you" are, out there, in the ether of the Internet.