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:

Motherbiker - The Triple Rock Breakfast

This is a breakfast masterpiece. Herbed tofu scramble mixed with veggie sausage is on top of a layer of homefries and smothered in vegan nacho cheese. Served with wheat toast. Giant portion, feeds me all day long, and into the following day.

Another picture:



Delicious.

Spinach Salad from Cue at The Guthrie Theater

Here is a lovely salad from Cue, a restaurant inside The Guthrie Theater. A nice pile of baby spinach, tossed in a vinaigrette and topped with chopped Marcon almonds. The salad is surrounded by delectable little raspberries.

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.

Taco Salad

Simple, filling taco salad consisting of taco seasoned TVP, lime corn, and spicy black beans. I also added hot sauce and taco sauce.

Salad: Raspberries, Figs, Lettuce and Dressing

This was a nice little salad I had at a sit-down meal function. Lettuce, rasperries, one fig sliced in half and a vinaigrette. Simple yet tasty, better than many iceberg lettuce salads I've had to endure.

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:

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.

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.

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.