Organic Brown Rice Penne Pasta with Seitan, Fermented Beet

Sorry for my absence from my blog for a few weeks. I just last night returned from a rewarding and interesting visit to Germany (I minored in German in college and have been to Austria and Munich) and the Czech Republic.

The first week of the trip was to attend the World Vegetarian Congress, the bi-annual conference of the International Vegetarian Union, at which I gave the opening keynote talk and where I was re-elected to serve as a counsilor. We enjoyed the conference location of Dresden, near the Polish and Czech borders, and spent the second week visiting the Czech Republic (one day in the industrial town of Ústí nad Labem and two days in beautiful Prague) and other parts of Germany (Pirna near Dresden, Leipzig, and three nights in Berlin).

The food during the conference was pretty good but somewhat repetitive. There was always at least 6-10 side dishes and a few desserts, all vegan, of course. Typical dishes included potato salads, sauerkraut, tofu-based courses, soups, and pasta.

We stayed with several generous and kind Servas host families, and had a number of good home-cooked meals, such as a variety of Indian-inspired dishes in Ústí nad Labem, a paella main course in Pirna, and a tasty pasta dish in Leipzig. We enjoyed Lehká Hlava ("Clear Head"), as well as all-vegan Country Life, vegetarian restaurants in Prague, and Satyam (Ayurvedic and South Indian restaurant) and Samâdhi (having Thai, Chinese, and Vietnamese food) vegetarian restaurants in Berlin.

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Tonight we had an early dinner - we're still feeling like we're six hours ahead of local North Carolina time. My wife went out to get some fresh vegetables, and I made a tasty organic brown rice penne pasta with sauteed chunks of seitan, onion, and a bit of jalapeno. Near the end of the saute, I added a few rosemary needles, alder-smoked salt, and dried dill weed. I had an unopened package of Bio Lacto / Deep Root brand (which I described in late March) organic, raw, fermented beet, which apparently keeps just fine for months. It was good, though my wife found it too sour for her taste.