Portlandia Epidsode 2: Quit Your Whinin'

*The Preppy Vegan* has been nominated for Charlotte's Best Food Blog 2012! Please vote by liking/tweeting/pinning here and then tell everyone you know to do the same! (Seriously. Everyone.)

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming: 

Despite my parents' support of me being vegan (and by "support" I mean they've stopped asking me if I couldn't just eat a "little" meat every now and then), there's occasionally still some arm twisting when it comes to their eating vegan. 

Case in point: Our second day in Portland, we'd gone for a great hike to Council Crest. Dad put me in charge of finding a lunch place, so I q-u-i-c-k-l-y plugged in directions to Blossoming Lotus in the rental car's GPS. Did I, uh, forget to mention this was a 100% vegan restaurant?

Maybe. 

I casually mentioned it as we were taking our 1000th lap around the block trying to find street parking, at which point my Dad made one of those scrunched up, disgusted faces and said "We're going through all of this trouble to eat....vegan?"

Yep. Too late now. (It's called having a strategy, people. And.it.works.)

The lunch crowd @ Blossoming Lotus

Luckily the wait was short so Dad couldn't put up too much of a fight, and I distracted Mom by making her take pictures of me outside:

My first time at an all vegan restaurant! Yay.

Finally, our appetizer of Pesto & White Bean Hummus came and (amazingly!) all grumblings quickly gave way to the sounds of chips crunching and scraping the sides of an empty bowl.

Pesto & White Bean Hummus

Let's just say the rest of the trip went verrrrry well. Dad even said he'd like to eat there again sometime. Winning. 

The "Even Your Omnivore Parents Will Like It" 
Pesto & White Bean Hummus

1 can white beans, like cannelini, rinsed and drained
1 cup fresh basil
1/3 cup olive oil 
1 cup almonds, walnuts, or pine nuts (my small town grocer doesn't carry pine nuts, so I buy walnuts for this)
3-4 cloves garlic
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup green onions, plus a few more for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until nuts are finely ground. (Mixture should still have texture.) Transfer to a small saucepan and heat until warmed through. Sprinkle green onions on top and serve with warm pita or tortilla chips. Sit back and relax as your parents say things like "this is surprisingly good" and resist the urge to say "I told you so".

I told you so.

Find Portlandia Ep. 1 here.
Vote for The Preppy Vegan as Charlotte's Best Food Blog here.

Cheers, y'all!