Vegan MoFo Day 16: Newport's Breakfast of Champions

For my second Rhode Island-themed post, I want to take a trip back to my hometown. I was born and raised in Newport, "the city by the sea" of about 25,000 people (and approximately 400,000 tourists. Just kidding. Not really). Though I haven't lived in Newport for the last 11 years, I still consider Newport home. (Newporters are funny that way. Many locals wear shirts with "Native Newporter" embroidered on them.) When people ask me where I'm from, I say Newport. I don't say the town that I've lived in for the last 7+ years. My current town is sorta vanilla. But Newport? It's Salted Caramel-Dulce de Leche, baby.

Newport has a deep, rich colonial history. Founded in 1639 by English settlers, Newport grew into one of the most important ports in colonial America, rivaling Boston and New York. Though many of Newport's original homes were destroyed by British troops during the Revolutionary War, there are still some houses and buildings that date back to the late 1600's. Newport is home to the oldest tavern in America (The White Horse Tavern, established in 1673), the oldest surviving synagogue in America (Touro Synagogue, completed in 1763), and....whatever the heck this thing is:

Whether you call it the Newport Tower, the Viking Tower, or the Old Stone Mill (that's what I've always called it), it's a big stone behemoth in Touro Park that was built either sometime before 1492 (Christopher Columbus) or sometime around 1670. Was it a windmill? A Viking church? A watchtower? Who knows for sure. All I know is, I played sports for the city's only public high school, Rogers High School, and our mascot was a Viking. I'm going with the Viking theory.

One of my favorite buildings in all of Newport is the Colony House, the fourth oldest statehouse still standing in the United States. It was built in the 1730's and sits proudly at the top of Washington Square.

I remember visiting the Colony House many times as an elementary and junior high school student in Newport. I really appreciate how our teachers made sure we got to enjoy and learn about the treasures in our hometown. We would go to see historical reenactments of important events, or just tour one of the mansions that dotted historic Bellevue Avenue. When out on field trips, we'd sometimes stop and eat our bag lunches in Queen Anne Square, gazing up the hill at the majestic Trinity Church:

Or, just as often, we'd turn in the other direction and just watch the pedestrians strolling along busy Thames Street and America's Cup Boulevard:

Of course, no visit to Newport is complete without a trip to the beach:

I'd recommend going in the summer, and not on a cold, windy day in October, just FYI :)

There are so many cool things about Newport, and this is just a small taste of my hometown. And speaking of small taste...(nice segway, no?)

...One of my favorite food memories of Newport is going to Brick Alley Pub, a Thames Street-institution popular with both tourists and locals alike.

I'd pretty much only order one thing when I went to Brick Alley Pub, and that was their "breakfast of champions." I'm not talking about pancakes or Wheaties, my friends. The "breakfast of champions" is a platter of their Ultimate Nachos, a heaping helping of tortilla chips covered with cheese, refried beans, salsa, tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream, scallions, olives, and jalapenos. In fact, these nachos and my Auntie Beth are forever tied together in my mind, because I remember going there with her countless times as a kid and just gorging myself with nachos and Coca-Cola. Ahhhh, those were the days!

In honor of my favorite Newport treat, I created my own platter of nachos, which I proclaim as the "Dinner of Vegan Champions."

Blue corn tortilla chips were sprinkled with Daiya vegan cheddar cheese and then baked at 350 for about 5 minutes. I took the chips out and then topped them generously with some salsa, Tofutti sour cream, black olives, tomatoes, scallions, diced cucumber, guacamame, and a new recipe from Appetite for Reduction, Unfried Refried Beans. The toasted and crushed coriander seeds really elevated the flavor of the beans to something extraordinary!

Along with a nice cold beer, these nachos were a special treat for a Sunday evening dinner. Nachos, beer, and football - what could be more American than that?!

Vegan MoFo Day 7: The Ocean State

I am a Rhode Islander, and proud of it. Rhode Island is the smallest of the 50 states, just 1,045 square miles. You can drive north to south, or east to west, in about an hour's time. But being a small state doesn't mean Rhode Island (or Rhode Islanders) don't have personality. Oh yes, we do. Some might even say we have a bit of a Napoleonic complex. We are fiercely proud of our state and its various claims to fame. We were the first colony to declare its independence from Britain. We are home to the oldest existing synagogue in the USA (Touro Synagogue, in my hometown of Newport). Our unofficial state mascot is a 58-foot long blue termite named Nibbles Woodaway, who wears a blinking red nose and antlers at Christmas and greets passersby on Route 95 in Providence. We have a Dancing Cop, historic mansions, the International Tennis Hall of Fame, our own brand of English, and an official state drink called coffee milk. We are also lampooned featured prominently on Family Guy. Like I said, we have personality.

Rhode Island's motto is "The Ocean State." Tourists and locals alike flock to our beaches and coastlines, including our beautiful Narragansett Bay. Rhode Island is also a foodie's paradise, with amazing Italian restaurants on our world-famous Federal Hill in Providence, seafood restaurants galore ("chowda!), and more donut shops per capita than anywhere else in the USA. Yes, we are proud of our food lore.

This month, I will be featuring some of my home state's various food traditions. Since Rhode Island is so well known for its seafood, I thought I'd start with a vegan take on a classic dish, spaghetti with clam sauce. I chose the very appropriately-named Inspired by Spaghetti with White Clam Sauce, from 1,000 Vegan Recipes.

Brown rice spaghetti is tossed with a garlicky sauce flavored with white wine, broth, basil, oregano, white miso, kelp powder, crushed red pepper, and fresh parsley. Cannellini beans stand in for the clams, which is genius. I have to say, even when I was an omni, I never enjoyed clams. I used to pick them out of my clam cakes and just eat the greasy fried batter. I thought (and still think) that steamers look and taste like giant loogeys. And while I've eaten my fair share of clam chowder over the years, I never really liked the actual clams. Mostly I just liked the potatoes. And, apparently, the chemicals. So, yeah, I'm not sure why I chose this recipe, but I really, really liked it! Go figure. Maybe if I'd been eating cannellini cakes and chowder all these years, I'd be singing a different tune.

The pasta and beans were pretty substantial, so I rounded out the meal with some simple steamed green beans and garlic bread.

 It was simple, tasty, and free of loogeys, which makes it a winner in my book.