I promise that in the coming days there will be more things I actually cooked rather than products. In this next year, I will also be able to cook a lot more at home and I'm VERY excited to do so!
Until then, here are some products I've been really enjoying.
First up, Phil's Fresh Foods. It's a line of frozen burritos, with two vegan choices. I've only ever had the "Veggie Fajita" which is a satisfying frozen burrito with good ingredients.
Next: Food Should Taste Good, a brand of chip/crackers made from excellent ingredients. I believe their whole line is vegan. I've had the jalapeño, olive, buffalo, and multigrain varieties. They are fantastic with salsa or hummus.
I'm vegan and often get the question: What do you eat? Hopefully this blog can answer that.
My goal is to show that being vegan is possible and can be inexpensive. It can also be really expensive - just like any person's dietary preference/needs. I also really enjoy showcasing both chain and independent restaurants with vegan options as well as products that are vegan.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Coconut Milk Mocha Almond Fudge Ice Cream
Um....Let's just say I have not been this excited in the frozen section of the grocery store in a LONG time.
I am completely in love with So Delicious' line of Coconut-Milk Based non-dairy foods. Not just the vegan ice cream, but the yogurts as well.
I mean, my name is The Saucy Coconut! I LOVE coconut flavors. I'm also a HUGE fan of coffee and coffee flavored things, so this item REALLY made my day. VERY good. Almost all of their coconut milk based items are soy free, too, so it's a nice alternative for soy-based vegan treats.
Speaking of which, I also discovered that they now have a variety of coconut milk frozen novelties, such as this one:
Little vegan ice cream sandwiches. These are not soy-free as there is some soy lecithin in the chocolate wafers. VERY tasty. I really want to try the other flavors. I also saw a chocolate nut covered coconut milk based frozen novelty, which looked fantastic. yum yum yum.
Root Beer Float
I felt really indulgent so I went out and got some root beer and a pint of Tofutti Vanilla Ice Cream. YUMMY.
I have not had a root beer float in YEARS, and this really hit the spot. Also, I had never tried Tofutti Vanilla Ice Cream. I must say it's probably the best plain vanilla vegan ice cream I've ever tried. The only disappointment I had was I didn't have a straw to drink it out of! Not one single straw in my house! It was still fantastic, though.
Pizza! Sausage Pizza with Follow Your Heart Mozzarella
Here's a pizza I made back in September, but never had the chance to upload the photos. Well, here they are. These are vague directions because I can't quite remember what I did over two months ago.
The crust is premade from Whole Foods. Then I spread straight tomato paste all over the crust, and tossed it in the oven to crisp up a bit. At the same time, I cooked frozen vegan meatballs in a pan on the stovetop, smashing and crumbling until they resembled ground beef. Then I seasoned the heck out of them: fennel seeds, oregano, garlic salt, and some other Italian seasonings.
Once the crust in the oven was slightly crisped, but not fully cooked, I pulled it out. I formed the meatball crumbles into tiny sausage balls and placed them on the pizza like any sausage pizza would look.
Then came the cheese -- Follow Your Heart Mozzarella. I shredded the entire block of cheese which was WAY too much. I spread it across the pizza, then popped it back in the oven. After about twenty minutes, I put the pizza under the broiler and watched it VERY carefully. After lots of bubbling and even a little browning of the cheese it was done!!!! I quickly sliced it up and ate it!
One more pic, this time of one piece:
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Update: I'm Still Eating, I Swear
Update: Here is a photo of the bowl I purchased that I speak about later in this post:
The Saucy Coconut is still alive and still eating.
This shortage in food posts will continue until sometime after December 15th. You see, The Saucy Coconut has a full time school schedule (the last semester, yay!) and also has another job other than posting on the interwebz about the joy of food. (Surprising, I know.)
Not to leave this post completely food-free, I have two mini reviews to give.
The first, St. Martin's Table. Yes, it's a Christian-based place that is a bookstore as well as a sit down restaurant serving soups, salads, bread and sandwiches. I'm not religious, unless food is a religion (which I would gladly lead.) It's an all-vegetarian place, and there is always one vegan soup available. I am a BIG fan of soup, particularly during the big cool down during October into November. It's the time of year to pull out all the sweaters and cardigans, even some scarves and mittens. The soup that I had was a curried potato kale soup which was great. I did not take photos, unfortunately. However, they were also selling handmade bowls for $10 and I picked one up immediately.
A short tangent about dishes and eating utensils. I love bowls, they are by far my favorite dish to eat from. I also have a fondness for the hybrid plate-bowl, those shallow bowls that are as wide as a medium sized plate. I also prefer forks as an eating utensil to anything else other than chopsticks. Only if I absolutely MUST eat things with a spoon (most cereals come to mind as well as particularly brothy soups) will I use one.
I recently watched the movie Ratatouille (2007), the animated Pixar/Disney movie. For those who don't know, the movie takes place in a French restaurant and centers around a little rat who has exceptional cooking skill and befriends a clumsy garbage boy in order to teach him/use him to become the best chef in Paris. If you love cooking and media-related cooking stuff, this is for you. I certainly don't have children, but I really love anything Pixar does, and this is no exception. Great movie, worth renting.
Also, Top Chef, one of my favorite TV Chef-Centered shows, and by far my favorite "reality" show, starts Season 5 on Wednesday November 12th. Click the link for a rundown on contestants and other misc. information. This season it's in NYC.
The Saucy Coconut is still alive and still eating.
This shortage in food posts will continue until sometime after December 15th. You see, The Saucy Coconut has a full time school schedule (the last semester, yay!) and also has another job other than posting on the interwebz about the joy of food. (Surprising, I know.)
Not to leave this post completely food-free, I have two mini reviews to give.
The first, St. Martin's Table. Yes, it's a Christian-based place that is a bookstore as well as a sit down restaurant serving soups, salads, bread and sandwiches. I'm not religious, unless food is a religion (which I would gladly lead.) It's an all-vegetarian place, and there is always one vegan soup available. I am a BIG fan of soup, particularly during the big cool down during October into November. It's the time of year to pull out all the sweaters and cardigans, even some scarves and mittens. The soup that I had was a curried potato kale soup which was great. I did not take photos, unfortunately. However, they were also selling handmade bowls for $10 and I picked one up immediately.
A short tangent about dishes and eating utensils. I love bowls, they are by far my favorite dish to eat from. I also have a fondness for the hybrid plate-bowl, those shallow bowls that are as wide as a medium sized plate. I also prefer forks as an eating utensil to anything else other than chopsticks. Only if I absolutely MUST eat things with a spoon (most cereals come to mind as well as particularly brothy soups) will I use one.
I recently watched the movie Ratatouille (2007), the animated Pixar/Disney movie. For those who don't know, the movie takes place in a French restaurant and centers around a little rat who has exceptional cooking skill and befriends a clumsy garbage boy in order to teach him/use him to become the best chef in Paris. If you love cooking and media-related cooking stuff, this is for you. I certainly don't have children, but I really love anything Pixar does, and this is no exception. Great movie, worth renting.
Also, Top Chef, one of my favorite TV Chef-Centered shows, and by far my favorite "reality" show, starts Season 5 on Wednesday November 12th. Click the link for a rundown on contestants and other misc. information. This season it's in NYC.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Chin Chin Café - NYNY Casino in Las Vegas, NV
The Chin Chin Café is located inside the NYNY Casino and offers a very thorough menu which describes how any of the dishes can have soft or fried tofu in place of meat. They have a special vegetarian brown sauce and everything is made to order. Our waitress was excellent at investigating ingredients for certain sauces to make sure everything we ordered was fish and oyster sauce free.
Pictured above: fried veggie potstickers served with garlic soy sauce and chili sauce rather. We requested a special sauce since the usual sauce had fish or oyster sauce in it. Whew. Sorry to overuse the word "sauce."
First up, Peanut Noodles with fried tofu. The waitress told us all of the ingredients of the peanut sauce and it was very basic: peanut butter, soy sauce, chili sauce, oil, and one or two other things I can't remember but were definitely vegan.
A close up showing some of the tofu under the noodles:
Next, the Kung Pao dish with fried tofu. They altered the sauce a bit as the original has chicken broth or something in it. This dish features a TON of red bell peppers, peanuts and water chestnuts. Awesome.
Another photo, on my plate:
Chin Chin's is probably my favorite restaurant to eat at inside the casinos on the strip. Very accommodating and very tasty.
Veggie Wrap and trail mix - Bellagio Casino, Las Vegas, NV
I recently traveled to Las Vegas, NV, and enjoyed quite a few delicious meals. It takes a little more searching to find truly satisfying vegan food (something other than just french fries) but it exists.
Pictured above: a veggie wrap with no cheese filled with alfalfa sprouts, tomato, cucumber, lettuce, served with a little garnish salad of cabbage, sprouts and veggies as well as a pickle. It also came with a plate of french fries. This was off of the room service menu at the Bellagio.
Pictured below: tasty trail mix from the Bellagio gift shop, Tutto. Why take a picture of it? It was impressive for trail mix: pepitas, roasted soy nuts, roasted flax seeds, raisins, goji berries, sliced almonds.
We also ate at a fast food type of place in the Bellagio called "Snacks," where they had vegetarian lentil soup and fries. They also had a veggie sandwich but we didn't get it or inquire if it had cheese or other non-vegan items.
Minnesota State Fair - Roasted Corn, Vegan Tamales
The Minnesota State Fair is a huge event. Over at their website, they show detailed daily attendance which totaled 1,693,533 over 12 days this year.
What is the best part about the fair? The food. And while I don't eat the pronto pups or cheese curds, there are plenty of other choices around.
The number one stop on my list has to be the Corn Roast. It's quite the massive setup: a line of workers (usually high school age) rotate on two sides, carrying corn cobs from the huge roasters, hand dip them in vats of butter and hand them off to throngs of people who have already paid for the delicious corn.
Of course, I get mine with no butter, which disrupts the line a little bit, but they are used to requests such as that and promptly get me my corn. Pour on salt and pepper - enjoy! Just be careful not to burn your mouth:
What else is at the fair? Holy Land (my previously mentioned favorite local maker of falafel, hummus, and other Middle Eastern treats) has a booth, there are places to get fresh veggie trays and fruit, salted plain soft pretzels tend to be vegan if you request no butter, fries...they even had a place that had an advertised "animal product free" Asian noodle dish. I wasn't able to make it over to that intriguing booth.
Instead, I fulfilled my food dreams by finding the Midtown Global Market booth, which featured different food vendors each day. I struck gold when I saw that La Loma Tamales was there the day I went. They serve vegan tamales, confirmed because I buy their handmade frozen vegetable tamales and the ingredients say they are free of cheese and lard and other animal products. I also made sure to ask the various cooks and servers. I love these tamales. At home, I put sriracha on them or eat with beans or other foods. They are delicious plain, though.
The pictures don't do justice to their deliciousness:
What is the best part about the fair? The food. And while I don't eat the pronto pups or cheese curds, there are plenty of other choices around.
The number one stop on my list has to be the Corn Roast. It's quite the massive setup: a line of workers (usually high school age) rotate on two sides, carrying corn cobs from the huge roasters, hand dip them in vats of butter and hand them off to throngs of people who have already paid for the delicious corn.
Of course, I get mine with no butter, which disrupts the line a little bit, but they are used to requests such as that and promptly get me my corn. Pour on salt and pepper - enjoy! Just be careful not to burn your mouth:
What else is at the fair? Holy Land (my previously mentioned favorite local maker of falafel, hummus, and other Middle Eastern treats) has a booth, there are places to get fresh veggie trays and fruit, salted plain soft pretzels tend to be vegan if you request no butter, fries...they even had a place that had an advertised "animal product free" Asian noodle dish. I wasn't able to make it over to that intriguing booth.
Instead, I fulfilled my food dreams by finding the Midtown Global Market booth, which featured different food vendors each day. I struck gold when I saw that La Loma Tamales was there the day I went. They serve vegan tamales, confirmed because I buy their handmade frozen vegetable tamales and the ingredients say they are free of cheese and lard and other animal products. I also made sure to ask the various cooks and servers. I love these tamales. At home, I put sriracha on them or eat with beans or other foods. They are delicious plain, though.
The pictures don't do justice to their deliciousness:
Motherbiker - The Triple Rock Breakfast
Monday, August 25, 2008
Spinach Salad from Cue at The Guthrie Theater
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Pizza Luce Brunch (again): Vegan Biscuits and Gravy with Tofu Scramble
Once again, a nice brunch at Pizza Lucé. This time I ordered the Vegan Biscuits and Gravy, which comes with a side of Tofu Scramble. I also added some vegan hollandaise on the side. The biscuits and gravy were very tasty, the tofu scramble was so-so. I don't think that they press the tofu very much because it was a bit watery. The hollandaise sauce was inedible -- thick to the point where you could hold it upside down and nothing would fall out. That was unfortunate as it's one of my favorite things to get while I splurge going out to brunch. Oh well, the biscuits and gravy were great.
Here's a close up:
Veggie Burger with Frank's Redhot and Vegan Bleu "Cheese"
The title says it all. One Vegan Boca Burger, smothered with Frank's Red Hot and tons of crumbled Sunergia Soyfoods Vegan Bleu Cheese.
I got the idea while watching Diners, Drive-ins and Dives om the Food Network. I purchased the vegan bleu "cheese" a while ago and didn't know exactly what to do with it. I've since mixed it into Organicville's Non-Dairy Ranch to make a sort of creamy bleu cheese dressing. The non-dairy ranch isn't *that* great, but I have enjoyed it on pizza.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Taco Salad
Salad: Raspberries, Figs, Lettuce and Dressing
The Phyllo Experiment
This is the result of my experiment with phyllo. I've never worked with it before, and don't know if I want to again! I've always read that it's quite labor intensive, and that is an understatement. I was also ill-equipped and low on counter space, which made it really tough. I had no pastry brush (where did mine go?!?!) and no plastic wrap. I was able to piece together a decent set up to prevent drying out, but it was still quite the chore.
I made two fillings: one with Morningstar Chik'n Strips diced up into a blended mixture of spinach, canned artichoke hearts, squash and garlic. The other was a more simple filling of just vegan pesto and the Chik'n. I liked the artichoke filling better, but overall bother were rather "meh." I was going to incorporate vegan cream cheese but the container in my fridge was growing...something. I decided it was best to throw it away and make up a different filling.
Another shot:
Next time I'd like to try something more all in one dish, so I don't have the hard layering and folding, just layering in one baking dish. Something such as baklava or I was thinking maybe vegan cream cheese with medjool dates and nuts and shredded coconut? We'll see, I've still got another roll of phyllo in the freezer.
Berry Breakfast Waffles with Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter
Happy 100th Post to me!
Yum! This was a fantastic and filling berry breakfast. Frozen flaxseed waffles with a generous spread of both Smart Balance Light and Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter. Then they are topped with an even more generous mound of fresh blackberries and blueberries as well as maple syrup. I served this with a glass of strawberry soymilk.
Another photo, a close up:
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Waiting
So, I know it's been a while. I'm not gone! I totally plan on resurrecting this food blog. I've purchased a few vegan cookbooks and would like to try out recipes from those as well as to continue expanding my experimental ideas and just documenting the everyday things that I eat. So never fear, all 2 readers! The Saucy Coconut will return, it just may take a week or so for me to get my stuff together and get cooking again.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Lentil Sage Field Roast Grain "Meat" Sandwich with Carrots
Well today I wanted to start what I'm sure will not continue for more than two days: blogging daily all the food I consume, even the boring foods. This may or may not force me to eat more healthy and/or be far too large of a task to keep up with, but since it's summer I decided to give it a go.
Of course, I started off with a bang by craving and creating this lovely sandwich this morning for breakfast. A sandwich consisting of Lentil Sage flavored Field Roast Grain "Meat," which I enjoy because it's a nice alternative to the soy deli meats. Field Roast is made from vital wheat gluten, which sounds gross but it is that protein which gives us seitan and more importantly, mock duck.
This sandwich consists of 3 pieces of said grain "meat," a few slices of tomato, some baby spinach, mustard and a piece of Galaxy Nutritional Foods' Rice Vegan Cheddar "Cheese," again a nice change from all-soy "cheeses."
I also enjoyed some baby carrots on the side, as well as throughout today. Sometime after the carrots, I had a Primal Strip in Thai Peanut flavor. I like these as a quick snack that fills me up and doesn't lead to mindless snacking.
So that's the food so far today. Plus lots of water and about one 8oz cup of coffee.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Vegan Marble Cake from Bravo! Café and Bakery
Simple: Vegan Marble Cake from the wonder that is Bravo! Café and Bakery. This stuff is great: thick and dense yet light and fluffy at the same time. It's delicious and $2.50 per piece. No frosting, but that's fine with me.
Homemade Blueberry Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Wow, these were fantastic. Made with Aunt Jemima pancake mix and Ener-G egg replacer, I followed the directions on the box, let the mix rest for 5-10 minutes before mixing in the frozen blueberries and Sunspire Chocolate Chips. I can never get them perfect in shape and size, but as far as taste...fantastic.
Fried Tofu Appetizer from Chiang Mai Thai
Mmm, this is fried tofu sticks with peanut sauce from Chiang Mai Thai, one of my favorite restaurants in the Twin Cities. Crispy shallot flakes top the tofu, and it is also served with sriracha.
On this visit, we enjoyed a Laab Salad with Mock Duck as well as a Garlic Pepper Stir Fry with Mock Duck. No pictures of those, though. I completely forgot and ate most of the meal before even thinking about picture taking! Ah well, the food was pretty good despite a lack of spice in the stir fry.
Falafel with Hummus from Holy Land
Yummy. Holy Land is an awesome local Middle Eastern restaurant, store and buffet supplied with fresh pitas, hummus, tahini, falafel, and everything else yummy under the sun. This was a box of leftovers I was able to take home after a work banquet. Filled with falafel balls and hummus, I also got some tahini and tabouli and purchased some pitas at the store. Seriously: day old pitas go 30 for $4 and fresh are 10 $2.
So so so SO tasty. Holy Land Brand is sold at most grocery stores here, but it's more expensive than at the store directly.
Helen's Kitchen Chili with Tortilla Chips and Vitamin Water
This is a picture of the box of Helen's Kitchen, a company which has vegetarian and vegan frozen products such as chili, curries, etc.
I have pics of the chili, but they don't look that great, so I decided not to post them. It wasn't too bad, the tofu bits were an interesting addition to the chili. I ate the chili by dipping Garden of Eatin Red Hot Blues Chips into it.
I also enjoyed a Vitamin Water with my meal.
Gluten Free French Toast Sticks from Ian's Natural Foods
These are frozen French toast sticks, from Ian's Natural Foods. They are Wheat/Gluten Free, and are vegan.
They weren't too bad. They are made with rice flour, which gave them an interesting texture. I don't personally think I'd buy them again because they are WAY overpriced, but they didn't taste too bad with a lot of syrup. It was neat to have frozen vegan French toast sticks. Shown here with maple syrup from Target.
Fried Potatoes, Sautéed Kale, and Mushrooms
This was incredibly simple, although I wish I was able to master the potatoes a bit more. I'll cook less of them and completely in the non-stick pan next time.
Recipe:
3-4 thin sliced potatoes (I used a Mandolin and b. red potatoes)
1T vegetable oil
3-4c Kale, torn up into little pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, medium-small diced
4-5 big button mushrooms, sliced
1. slice the potatoes on a mandolin or food processor or evenly with a knife. Pan fry in a pan with some vegetable oil until tender, adding 1/2 the onions and 1/2 the garlic to the pan after a bit. The potatoes take a while, so don't start the mushrooms or kale for at least 15 minutes.
2. In another pan, sauté the other half of the onions and garlic in a tiny bit of oil.
3. In another pan, sauté the mushrooms in some non-stick spray and a little salt and water.
4. In the onion and garlic pan, add the kale, stirring constantly. Sauté until it becomes your desired texture. I like mine pretty firm, so I tend to take the pan off the heat, add the kale, stir, and plate.
5. Plate all the food, serve with optional condiments: sriracha, ketchup, tobasco sauce, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, etc.
Homemade Tofu Bacon
This was an experiment. I enjoy the Fakin' Bacon from Lightlife, but those are about $4-5 for 5 long tempeh strips. Made at home with tofu, it came out to $3-4 for about one full pound of fakin' bacon.
I actually liked this stuff more than I thought I would. I just ate it all plain, but I could tell it would be great in a tomato and guacamole/avocado sandwich.
RECIPE
1 16 ounce package extra firm or firm tofu, water packed
2T Soy sauce (shoyu preferred, but regular soy sauce is ok.)
1t Liquid Smoke
2T Nutritional Yeast (optional)
1-3T oil, vegetable or another neutral oil (NOT sesame or peanut or olive)
1. Drain and press tofu.
2. Slice tofu into thin strips, similar to thick cut bacon.
3. Mix soy sauce and liquid smoke.
4. In a pan, heat vegetable oil and fry the tofu strips until crispy.
5. Remove from heat, then pour in the soy sauce/liquid smoke mixture.
--> okay, I need a larger pan, but I wound up making this mixture twice for my whole package of tofu. It was still good, but I love salt, so maybe this would end up being too salty for some people. In that case, mix a little water in the liquid smoke and soy sauce mix, and then pour half into the pan if you have a small pan like me and can only fit half the tofu in it.
6. Flip the tofu several times, making sure that both sides soak in the sauce. As the liquid disappears, you can add the nutritional yeast, again making sure both sides are coated. You could even mix the nutritional yeast in with the liquid before hand. The Nutritional yeast is not 100% necessary, but works out great.
7. Let tofu bacon rest on rack to drain and cool a little bit, eat and enjoy. Like I said, I only had it plain, but this would be great with breakfast or in a sandwich.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Chik'n Potstickers!
I made my own potstickers today! It was a lot of work, but well worth it in the end. Here is the finished product, pan fried chik'n potstickers with soy sauce/miso/ginger dipping sauce:
Ingredients:
filling:
1 bag of Morningstar Chik'n Strips, cooked, small chopped
1/2 an onion, small dice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-1.5 cups broccoli, cooked and blended/chopped finely
to taste:
soy sauce
ginger paste
rice vinegar
toasted sesame oil
garlic chili paste
Also:
1 package of potsticker wraps, which can be purchased at any Asian grocery as well as many major chain supermarkets
Canola oil
butter for sealing edges of wrapper
Hardware:
One deep pot or pan for pan frying
One pot to boil the potstickers in (should be able to just cover the potstickers)
A station set up on a counter to assemble the potstickers and set them on a plate
a station to set/drain the finished potstickers
A tablespoon to measure out filling
a pan for the chik'n, a pan for the broccoli (or steamer)
What to do:
1. Make the filling. First, cook the frozen chik'n strips until heated through. Get the water for the broccoli boiling, add broccoli (I used frozen.)
2. To the chik'n, add onion and garlic until onion is translucent. Turn off heat. Once cool, chop up the chik'n and set into a bowl. Chop very small/fine. Blending may work for this, too.
3. Drain broccoli when it's done, let cool. Once cooled, blend or chop finely.
4. To the chi'n, add ginger, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, and garlic chili paste -- all to taste. Add in the blended mush of broccoli and mix everything together. That's the filling! Other options worth trying: scallions (I didn't have any), rice noodles, rice, carrot, etc.
5. Get your assembly line ready. It's best if you can work in a left to right or right to left line: a place to set the open wrappers and fill them, fold them; next a plate to set the folded potstickers; next into the boiling water; into the frying pan with oil and finally onto a place to drain the oil and get served.
6. For filling: put less than 1T (3/4 or so) of filling into the middle of the wrapper. I buttered the edge to help it stick together, but it didn't always work. Fold in half, then crimp edges and set on plate to await boiling. Important: avoid air bubbles, avoid holes, make SURE the edges are sealed.
7. You'll know when they are done boiling because they turn transluscent. Remove and set each potsticker into the frying pan and fry either one or both sides until golden brown. Drain off excess oil, EAT!
Ingredients:
filling:
1 bag of Morningstar Chik'n Strips, cooked, small chopped
1/2 an onion, small dice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-1.5 cups broccoli, cooked and blended/chopped finely
to taste:
soy sauce
ginger paste
rice vinegar
toasted sesame oil
garlic chili paste
Also:
1 package of potsticker wraps, which can be purchased at any Asian grocery as well as many major chain supermarkets
Canola oil
butter for sealing edges of wrapper
Hardware:
One deep pot or pan for pan frying
One pot to boil the potstickers in (should be able to just cover the potstickers)
A station set up on a counter to assemble the potstickers and set them on a plate
a station to set/drain the finished potstickers
A tablespoon to measure out filling
a pan for the chik'n, a pan for the broccoli (or steamer)
What to do:
1. Make the filling. First, cook the frozen chik'n strips until heated through. Get the water for the broccoli boiling, add broccoli (I used frozen.)
2. To the chik'n, add onion and garlic until onion is translucent. Turn off heat. Once cool, chop up the chik'n and set into a bowl. Chop very small/fine. Blending may work for this, too.
3. Drain broccoli when it's done, let cool. Once cooled, blend or chop finely.
4. To the chi'n, add ginger, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, and garlic chili paste -- all to taste. Add in the blended mush of broccoli and mix everything together. That's the filling! Other options worth trying: scallions (I didn't have any), rice noodles, rice, carrot, etc.
5. Get your assembly line ready. It's best if you can work in a left to right or right to left line: a place to set the open wrappers and fill them, fold them; next a plate to set the folded potstickers; next into the boiling water; into the frying pan with oil and finally onto a place to drain the oil and get served.
6. For filling: put less than 1T (3/4 or so) of filling into the middle of the wrapper. I buttered the edge to help it stick together, but it didn't always work. Fold in half, then crimp edges and set on plate to await boiling. Important: avoid air bubbles, avoid holes, make SURE the edges are sealed.
7. You'll know when they are done boiling because they turn transluscent. Remove and set each potsticker into the frying pan and fry either one or both sides until golden brown. Drain off excess oil, EAT!
Amy's Kitchen Non-Dairy Beans and Rice Burrito with Chips and Salsa
Just a simple beans and rice burrito with hot salsa and tortilla chips. Nothing too special. From Amy's Kitchen.
Illionois/Chicago: The Hilton Gardenview and the Sheraton at O'Hare
I had to take a short trip to the Chicago area and here are the hotel/suburban foods I had. (I plan on going back to Chicago proper sometime soon to sample all of their great vegan restaurant selections.)
First up, the airport hotel. Room Service breakfast, which is the same at nearly every hotel I've been to: hashbrowns, fruit bowl, toast, peanut butter and jelly. The Sheraton @ O'Hare:
I must say that the fruit bowl was actually quite good and all the fruit tasted fresh and ripe. The hashbrown weren't too bad. Nothing spectacular and definitely not worth the price, but that's room service for ya.
Next up, a very similar breakfast from the Hilton Gardenview: fruit, mini bagels and diced potatoes:
First up, the airport hotel. Room Service breakfast, which is the same at nearly every hotel I've been to: hashbrowns, fruit bowl, toast, peanut butter and jelly. The Sheraton @ O'Hare:
I must say that the fruit bowl was actually quite good and all the fruit tasted fresh and ripe. The hashbrown weren't too bad. Nothing spectacular and definitely not worth the price, but that's room service for ya.
Next up, a very similar breakfast from the Hilton Gardenview: fruit, mini bagels and diced potatoes:
Illinois/Chicago Area: Stir Crazy in OakbrookTerrace
Stir Crazy is a restaurant I went to while in the suburbs of Chicago. It serves various Asian dishes as well as featuring a make your own stir fry.
I've been to a few of this style of restaurants, but I like this one the best so far for a few reasons. First, it's nice that they add your tofu (or other protein of your choosing) when they cook the ood so you don't have to take up space in your bowl that can be used for broccoli or other veggies. Second, they have brown rice as an option. Third, they were nice enough to offer up their complete list of sauce ingredients so we could figure out which ones were vegan or not.
First, the coconut curry vegetables served with tofu and udon noodles:
This was really tasty. The sauce was awesome and the tofu was really great.
Next, a make your own stirfry with lots of veggies, tofu, and brown rice:
Overall, I had a great experience there and was impressed by both the service and the food.
I've been to a few of this style of restaurants, but I like this one the best so far for a few reasons. First, it's nice that they add your tofu (or other protein of your choosing) when they cook the ood so you don't have to take up space in your bowl that can be used for broccoli or other veggies. Second, they have brown rice as an option. Third, they were nice enough to offer up their complete list of sauce ingredients so we could figure out which ones were vegan or not.
First, the coconut curry vegetables served with tofu and udon noodles:
This was really tasty. The sauce was awesome and the tofu was really great.
Next, a make your own stirfry with lots of veggies, tofu, and brown rice:
Overall, I had a great experience there and was impressed by both the service and the food.
The Triple Rock: Cook's Revenge, Chicago Dogs and Mac & Cheese
The Triple Rock is one of my favorite Minneapolis bar/restaurants to go to. It's a punk rock bar with an attached club for rock shows and it also serves American-style bar food. Here are a few dishes from a recent visit:
The Vegan Cook's Revenge:
This is one of my favorite things to order at the Triple Rock. "The Cook's Revenge" is basically whatever the cook wants to give you, no substitutions, no refunds, you get what you get. The only request that can be made is to make the dish vegan or vegetarian rather than meaty. I've had this 100 times, and I've had just about everything under the sun from PB&J to a 4-plates of food breakfast meal. Pictured above was a bowl of goodness: pinto beans and salsa covered with veggie sausage and smashed tater tot potatoes, which was then covered with their vegan nacho cheese and topped off with star-shaped veggie sausage. It was quite good.
Vegan Mac and Cheese:
Just what it says: big elbow macaroni noodles in a nutritional yeast sauce and topped with more nooch. Served with a GIANT piece of Texas toast.
Vegan Chicago Dogs:
This is two vegan Chicago dogs topped with peppers, tomatoes, onions, relish and mustard. Served with fries (and an extra side of vegan nacho cheese.)
Other favorites of mine include the Mock Duck sandwich, vegan nachos, their housemade hummus (REALLY garlicky), and "The Best Vegetarian Sub Ever."
The Vegan Cook's Revenge:
This is one of my favorite things to order at the Triple Rock. "The Cook's Revenge" is basically whatever the cook wants to give you, no substitutions, no refunds, you get what you get. The only request that can be made is to make the dish vegan or vegetarian rather than meaty. I've had this 100 times, and I've had just about everything under the sun from PB&J to a 4-plates of food breakfast meal. Pictured above was a bowl of goodness: pinto beans and salsa covered with veggie sausage and smashed tater tot potatoes, which was then covered with their vegan nacho cheese and topped off with star-shaped veggie sausage. It was quite good.
Vegan Mac and Cheese:
Just what it says: big elbow macaroni noodles in a nutritional yeast sauce and topped with more nooch. Served with a GIANT piece of Texas toast.
Vegan Chicago Dogs:
This is two vegan Chicago dogs topped with peppers, tomatoes, onions, relish and mustard. Served with fries (and an extra side of vegan nacho cheese.)
Other favorites of mine include the Mock Duck sandwich, vegan nachos, their housemade hummus (REALLY garlicky), and "The Best Vegetarian Sub Ever."
Baja Sol Express - Veggie Burrito Sol Bowl
I love Baja Sol because it has actual vegetables for veggie burritos and the hot salsa is fresh and HOT. They also have actual diced jalapenos rather than just pickled ones. While the burrito bowl is not the most photo-friendly food, it is quite tasty. This bowl features rice, black beans, vegetables (zucchini, red bell pepper, onion, yellow squash), lettuce, pico de gallo, guacamole, HOT salsa, fresh jalapenos and hot sauce. I also usually take a few lime wedges to add some zing.