Stuff I Ate in Tennessee

Last week I crossed off one of my bucket list destinations: Nashville. I traveled with my friend and assistant Jess to do makeup for three models. My first vegan stop was actually when I decided that if I was THAT close to Sun Studio (where Johnny Cash, Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis recorded) and didn't go, I would regret it forever. So we drove 4 hours in the rain to Memphis.

I had heard that Memphis wasn't very nice, outside of Graceland, but that was seriously wrong. The streets are lined with a mix of 100 year-old and brand-new buildings, everyone is cool, and their vegan food was amazing. We went to Imagine Vegan Cafe, a vegan restaurant built into a house (this reminded me of Minneapolis' only 100% vegan restaurant, Ecopolitan). 

How freeing it was to have an entire menu where I could order ANYTHING. Here's their very cute menu:

I decided since I was in the south, to order the vegan Southern Fried Chicken sandwich. It was Chik-Fil-A style with pickles and vegan mayo on a soft bun. I was dreaming about it that night, that's how amazing it was. Like somebody's vegan grandmother made it. I also ordered a side of vegan macaroni and cheese.

Jess got a vegan eggplant Parmesan sandwich with a side of garlic kale which she called "messy and tastes unbelievable." 

We also shared their spinach artichoke dip and chips which was the only thing we could not finish (we were too full). It was incredible and I ate the rest for breakfast right before our shoot. 

Here's me geeking out: 

We drove back to Nashville exhausted and slept until we woke up early to attend to our call time. One of the models works at a vegan restaurant called Sunflower and when I told her I wanted to try a place she said she wished she had known- she would have brought us some stuff! I had already decided to try The Wild Cow as soon as we were done shooting but hopefully I can revisit Nashville and go to more places (apparently there's also a raw place called Avo). 

The Wild Cow has an all-vegan menu except you can special order some dairy cheese on certain items which I thought was really weird. There was no information on why they chose to do that, or where the cheese comes from (did they decide to offer cheese because it's from an extremely humane farmer up the road or something? No further information was given). One thing I did notice with both restaurants I visited though, was that they both served beer and wine. When I go to a vegan place out of state I always try to observe how it is a success and I think Tennessee vegans understand that they can keep their restaurants busy if they offer alcohol and comfort food, which makes sense. I didn't order any, though.  

I ordered the portabella mushroom burger with vegan chèvre and roasted red peppers. The Wild Cow offered a large selection of sides just like Imagine did, including garlic kale (is this a southern thing?) but I opted for the pineapple cole slaw which was very good. 

Jess (who is not vegetarian) adored her grilled tofu rice and lentil bowl. We were so full we couldn't fathom ordering their sizable selection of homemade desserts (the most intriguing being their vegan lavender-blueberry cheesecake).

 

I was shocked how inexpensive the restaurants were. In fact, after returning to Minneapolis I went to a restaurant with a special vegetarian menu (so, not a vegetarian restaurant) and a vegan hot dog and tater tots was $15. Jess and I ate at both restaurants in Tennessee for $15-20 total and the food was much better. Being outside of Minneapolis I am constantly reminded how much we can improve here, especially since we are a big city with a lot of vegans and we pride ourselves on being a progressive and diverse "food city." 

I am itching to go back again already, and daydreaming of when my hometown will have the same options and variety as other places in the country.

Ooh, Tiny PB S'more Cheesecakes!

I made a dozen of these little guys tonight: peanut butter and chocolate vegan mini cheesecakes with date-walnut crust and topped with a vegan marshmallow. 

I went to Trader Joes to get walnuts for my breakfast (oats with banana, walnuts and almond milk has been a new favorite) and discovered that Trader Joes has vegan (and gluten-free!) marshmallows! They're half the price of the Dandies (from Chicago Foods) brand I have bought before. I knew I had other ingredients to make a yummy dessert at home. You'll need a muffin tin and some cupcake liners 

No-Bake Peanut Butter S'more Mini Cheesecakes

For the crust: 

1 1/2 cups walnuts 

1/2 cup pitted dried dates

1/2 tsp vanilla extract  

For the cheesecake:

1 container Tofutti cream cheese

2 tsp maple syrup 

1 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips 

1/2 cup peanut butter 

12 vegan marshmallows (the big ones) 

Line the cupcake pan with liners. Place the ingredients for the crust in a food processor until it becomes pliable enough to form a ball. Divide the mixture among the cupcake cavities and press down to make the crust of the mini cheesecakes. Place the cupcake pan in the freezer.

Melt the chocolate and peanut butter in a saucepan on low- stir it constantly once it starts to get soft, and until it's completely smooth. Remove it from the heat.

Combine the vegan cream cheese and maple syrup in a food processor (you could also probably use a whisk or a hand mixer). Take the cupcake pan out of the freezer and divide the cream cheese mixture on top of the walnut crusts, then spoon a tablespoon each of the chocolate-peanut butter mixture on top of that. Smooth the chocolate all the way to the edges of the liners (so they look pretty!) and place a vegan marshmallow on top. 

Then throw them in the fridge for about 15 minutes. You'll know they're ready when the chocolate looks set. 

Here's what they look like! 😍

 

Asian Lemon Chicken, Wit.

Hey friends! It has been forever. I'm posting because of an unexpected nicety!

My roommate went to Trader Joe's and brought me back some vegan chicken-less strips. They sat in the fridge for a few days because I couldn't think of anything cool to do with them. Then, like I do, I was laying in bed thinking about the vast expanse of the universe or something and it came to me: I need to make lemon chicken.

You know the Asian lemon or orange chicken you can buy in any food court and in a lot of freestanding places? I could make a vegan version of that. 

One slight bummer, I was out of ginger. Next time I will absolutely use that. And next time I think I would add the chickenless strips absolutely last (because they were sooo crispy and yummy when I got them out of the oil but softened a tad once I put them in the sauce). But overall it was amazing. If you don't like the taste or texture if fake meats, frying the crap out of them and then slathering them in a delicious sauce will change your tune. Everyone loves fried things. And sauce.

I adapted a recipe from Yummily Yours which was for asian orange cauliflower. I used fresh lemon juice instead of orange, added fresh pineapple, and used a vegan-friendly brown sugar instead of white sugar. Also, instead of sriracha I used a traditional chili sauce that is found at most Asian markets. And finally -obviously- I used chickenless strips instead of cauliflower. You can view that original recipe here, and I plan to try it myself sometime soon: 

http://yummilyyours.com/orange-cauliflower/

Here is my version: 

Asian Lemon "Chicken" with Peppers and Pineapple

• 1 package of Trader Joe's Chicken-less Strips (or about a cup and a half of your favorite meat substitute)
• 1/2 cup diced bell peppers (I used red and green)
• 1/2 cup fresh cut pineapple
• 2 tsp diced white onion
• 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp corn starch
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup water (to make a batter)
• Oil for frying + 1 tbsp oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 3/4 cup vegetable broth (or you can just use water)
• 1 lemon's worth of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp Sriracha (or another kind of red chili paste/sauce)
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed black pepper
• Salt to taste
• (You can garnish with sesame seeds and green onions as well, if you like) 
• 
  
• Heat oil for frying
• 
  
• In another pan, heat half tbsp. oil and add the diced peppers. Sauté them for a min or 2 until they turn golden. Make sure that you are not overcooking the peppers. Set aside once they are done.
• 
  
• Mix the corn starch and all-purpose flour with a pinch of salt and water to make a thick batter. The batter should be thick enough to coat the chickenless strips evenly.
• 
  
• Dip each strip into the batter and add them into hot oil for frying.
• 
  
• Fry them in batches so as to not overcrowd the pan.
• 
  
• Once the batter covering the strips turns crisp, drain them out of the oil and place them on paper towels.

Once you are done frying all the strips, you have to keep them crisp until you are ready to toss them in the sauce. You can do this either by keeping them warm in a pre-heated oven or re-frying them in hot oil for just a min before adding them into the sauce.

For the sauce, heat 1/2 tbsp oil in the pan you roasted the peppers in. Add minced ginger and garlic.

Sauté them for a min until they turn golden. Add the lemon zest in

Add the broth, lemon juice, sriracha, soy sauce, brown sugar and mix well.

Meanwhile, measure out 2 tbsp of corn starch batter than you used for the frying

Once the broth-lemon mixture begins to boil, lower the heat. Add the crushed black pepper and salt

Add the corn starch paste into the boiling mixture in a slow steady stream. Make sure you are constantly stirring the simmering mixture with your other hand while adding the corn flour paste.

Once the mixture thickens, toss in the fried strips, the sautéed bell peppers and the fresh pineapple pieces

Mix well and increase the heat up a notch. Heat for a min or 

Transfer it to a serving dish (and garnish with sesame seeds and sliced green onions if you want to

Donuts.

I made these last week... The recipe is from "Betty Goes Vegan." These are the strawberry shortcake donuts, dipped in vegan sprinkles immediately after glazing. Again I had two non-vegan taste-testers who approved. I'm not a huge fan of the "Betty" book as it is loaded with recipes that rely heavily on fake meat and fake cheese, but the baked items I have tried are solid and the book is fun to read. 

Falafel Pie

I saw this Buzzfeed article of 30 vegan recipes that take less than 30 minutes. I'll be honest that most of them looked gross. Two got my attention though- falafel pie and cauliflower pizza bites.

The original falafel pie recipe was from theveganstoner.com which, even though I don't smoke pot, pretty accurately describes the way I eat and think about food. For two days- TWO DAYS- afterward I couldn't stop thinking about this awesome falafel pie. It's falafel mix pressed into a pie pan instead of the traditional falafel ball, topped with hummus, cucumber, tomato, kalamata olives and homemade vegan tzitziki sauce. 

I went to SuperTarget and was surprised they didn't have falafel mix. I could have sworn I had purchased it there in the past. I knew they didn't have the unflavored soy yogurt I needed for the tzatziki so I wasn't filled with rage about the ordeal. But I was very certain that Trader Joes would have both. Trader Joes had NEITHER! I couldn't believe it. So I said "F-word this S-word," drove home and improvised. On the way home, premenstrual and exhausted, I heard the Trader Joes sales associate's voice in my head over and over: "have you tried Whole Foods?" Pffft have I tried Whole Foods.

I started thjnking, the main ingredient in falafel is chickpeas. I had a can. I had spices. I could do this. After finding a falafel recipe I could trust, I noticed that the recipe was ACTUALLY a recipe FOR falafel pie, but using a falafel-from-scratch method, unlike the Vegan Stoner. 

I made mine gluten-free so my son Felix could eat it too (I had to add a couple more tablespoons of flour to form the dough into a ball, and I have a feeling that traditional flour would have made the crust crispier, but it was still good), and had two non-vegan friends over for dinner as well. I grilled some veggie kabobs to go with this. The grown-ups loved it and asked for seconds. I used the onions I had on the kabobs as additional falafel pie toppings, so next time I'm definitely throwing some onion on top of the pie before baking.

Believe it or not, the tzitziki sauce thing also pissed me off because I was not about to make it with vanilla flavored soy yogurt but couldn't go without it. Then I remembered that I made vegan ranch dip for my fried veggies a couple days prior. So I used that, finely diced 1/4 cucumber  into it and a little bit of lemon juice. It was perfect. So if you've got Veganaise and soy milk laying around you don't need soy yogurt to make this necessary sauce. 

FALAFEL PIE (recipe from Heat Oven to 350)

1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 large onion, roughly chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp salt
crushed red pepper flakes to taste
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp baking powder
4 – 5 tablespoons flour
vegetable oil
1 tomato, roughly chopped
1 cucumber, roughly chopped
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, roughly chopped
3/4 cup hummus (prepared or homemade)
cucumber sauce/tzatziki for drizzling (suggested recipe below)

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Place chickpeas, onion, parsley, cilantro, salt, red pepper flakes, garlic and cumin in bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Process until blended but not pureed — texture should be rougher than hummus.
3. Sprinkle in baking powder and 4 tablespoons of flour, and pulse. Add enough flour so dough can be formed into ball.
4. Coat bottom of 9″ pie pan with vegetable oil. Add falafel mix into pie pan and pat it down until flat. Brush top of falafel mix with more oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Bake just until top appears dry and the falafel is firm to, about 20-23 minutes.
5. Top baked falafel with hummus, cucumbers, tomatoes, and olives. Top with cucumber sauce (I spooned it into a ziploc bag and cut the corner of the bag with scissors to squeeze out uniformly) and serve.

More Waffles

Ok so this time I made gluten-free vegan waffles (same recipe but using GF flour... My favorite is King Arthur's), and decided to sandwich them with Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese blended with powdered sugar, a bunch of strawberries and some maple syrup. All was going well and I produced four good (airy, flaky and funnel-cakelike) waffles until I got distracted by something and cooked a waffle too long. 

My waffle iron from 1974 refused to open, even after calling it a "stupid motherf@&$." Luckily a friend was there to help me pry it open. This took multiple tries.

Do not accidentally overcook a waffle.

Also, buy cooking spray. I didn't.

Anyway here's a picture.

My Kitchen Smells Awesome

I got a ton of fresh veggies and hadn't fried anything in a while. I decided that trying to make my own tempura vegetables was a good idea. Miraculously, even though I burn myself on things a lot, I managed to not sacks any part of myself. 

I trimmed and washed green beans, cauliflower, red pepper strips, zucchini and button mushrooms. Preparing the tempura batter took a little while but was worth it. The end result was light, crunchy and delicate, not heavy like traditional beer batter. 

Here's the recipe. Not sure why it was important to refrigerate the batter for 15 minutes prior but I didn't want to screw it up (this was a TON of veggies). Another fringe benefit was that it required no egg replacer which I always forget to buy:

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/sidevegetabledishes/r/vegantempura.htm

Hello, dollies. 

Also I made some vegan ranch. I was skeptical. You see, I've learned I hate fake meats and cheeses for the most part (I like tofu if it's fried, mock duck if it's covered in BBQ and nut cheeses... I like Daiya NEVER). But this ranch is better than any store-bought traditional ranch. Promise.

1 cup Vegenaise
1/4 cup soy milk
1 Tbs. parsley, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. fresh dill