Chow Vegan

Earlier this month, I posted about Spicy Baked Potato Chips. Crystal over at The Modern Vegetarian commented about using sweet potatoes in the recipe. I thought that was a great idea and finally got around to trying it.

I prefer the chips to sweet potato fries. I’ve tried the fries both in restaurants and the frozen kind. For all I know, the restaurant kind could have been using the frozen kind. Anyways, the chips are a bit firmer and not so floppy and greasy.

The sweet potatoes I had on hand were on the small size, it’s probably better to find bigger ones that are more uniform in size, so they’ll cook more evenly. That and a mandoline would have been very helpful as thinner slices would make for a crisper chip.

Spicy Baked Sweet Potato Chips
Serves 1

2 small or 1 large sweet potato
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Peel the sweet potatoes and thinly slice crosswise into 3/8 inch thick slices. The more uniform the slices, the better. If you have a mandoline, use it.

Place the sweet potato slices in a bowl. Add the olive oil, cayenne pepper and salt to taste and mix well. Spread the slices out on a baking pan in a single layer. Bake about 12 minutes on each side. Carefully checking to make sure the smaller or thinner pieces don’t burn (that’s why it’s better to have uniform shape and thickness). Serve immediately with your favorite condiment.

Ranch Dip

I made just enough ranch dip to try with the chips. I had a tiny bit of fresh silken tofu left over in the fridge and a very sad looking half of a lemon. I kinda just winged it, so I don’t have the measurements to write out a proper recipe for the dip.

Basically, it’s just silken tofu, lemon juice, onion powder, dried parsley, and salt. Add everything to taste in a bowl and whisk until it looks like a dip. The key is taste testing and adding small amounts until it comes out to your liking.

Over the long Memorial Day weekend, I decided to give BBQ pulled pork style jackfruit a whirl. I’ve been reading about it lately and it sounds so weird yet undeniably interesting at the same time.

BBQ is something I haven’t had in a long, long time. Grilling is quick, high heat over the grill. BBQ is low and slow – veggies don’t usually need to be cooked this way. So I was looking forward to enjoying a little BBQ.

The smell was incredible and the color is a nice tantalizing brown. But when I had a taste bite, I did not care for it at all. It tasted like how it looked when it first came out of the can, kinda of a vinegar taste. Or maybe it was the BBQ sauce I was using. Or maybe it was because I used my rice cooker on the slow cook setting. Needless to say, I was very disappointed and set it aside.

At the end of the day when I was debating what to do with it, I gave it one more try and nibbled a tiny bit. What!!? It tasted great! I guess the BBQ sauce and/or jackfruit just needed more time for the flavor to develop. So happy now.

Jackfruit is a giant, prickly oval fruit grown in India, Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America. It’s the largest tree borne fruit in the world. Ripe jackfruit is sweet and eaten as a dessert. The canned young green jackfruit in brine is unripe. It’s prepared as a vegetable and is also known as “vegetable meat”. Both versions can be found at the Asian grocery store.

BBQ Pulled Jackfruit Sandwich
Serves 2

1 20 ounce can young green jackfruit in brine
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt
1/2 cup + extra BBQ sauce, bottled or homemade
Hamburger buns

Drain and wash the jackfruit in several changes of water. After washing, squeeze out as much water as you can.

In a pan, heat the oil and sauté the garlic. Add the jackfruit and salt to taste, and cook for a 3-4 minutes over medium heat.

Transfer the jackfruit to a slow cooker, add the BBQ sauce and mix well. Set the cooker for 1 hour, occasionally stirring and adding more sauce or water as needed. The jackfruit should be fork tender and come apart easily.

Take the jackfruit out of the cooker and shred with a fork. Let the jackfruit sit for several hours or overnight to further develop the flavor or if it taste good to you right out of the pot, dig in. Serve on toasted buns with your choice of more BBQ sauce, mayo, coleslaw or pickles.

This is not an authentic Vietnamese pho soup nor is it a traditional Chinese soup. What is it then? It’s my interpretation of the two meeting in a tasty bowl.

Like those old Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercials where the two ingredients collide and it taste great. But instead of chocolate and peanut butter, it’s a delicious blend of Vietnamese seasonings/garnishes and Chinese ingredients.

I use fresh flat rice noodles (ho fun) usually seen in Chinese stir-fry dishes. Made from rice flour, wheat starch and water, they’re actually great in soups and feels more substantial than the thinner types of rice noodles. If you can’t find them fresh, dried rice noodles can also be used.

Rice Noodle Soup
Serves 2

Soup Base
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 serrano chile pepper, thinly sliced crosswise
3-4 fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1/2 ” piece of ginger, sliced
1 clove garlic, smashed and roughly chopped
4 cups water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Salt

1/2 pound fresh thick rice noodles
10 small tofu puffs, can be substituted with baked tofu
1/2 pound Bloomsdale spinach or 2 cups sliced baby bok choy
1 lime, cut into wedges
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped

If the rice noodles were refrigerated, they may be stuck together in a large block. Gently separate the noodles pieces into smaller pieces. It doesn’t have to be down to each individual piece as they’ll separate more when they cook.

Heat a wok until hot, add the oil and swirl to coat. Add the chile pepper and stir for a few seconds. Add the mushrooms, ginger and garlic, stir-fry for about a minute. Add the water, soy sauce and salt to taste, bring to a boil.

Add the rice noodles, when it comes to a boil, add the tofu puffs and spinach. Cook until the noodles are soft about 1-2 minutes more. Divide between two bowls and garnish with the cilantro, basil, and mint as desired. Serve immediately with the lime wedges to be squeezed into the soup to taste.

Whenever I travel, it always seems like I don’t get to eat enough leafy greens. I feel out of sorts when that happens. There’s no leafy greens in burritos, none on the pizza or veggie burgers, which I had twice on this last trip. (I reserve the eating of veggie burgers for traveling only as most restaurants have them nowadays and I don’t want to overdose by eating them at home.)

So as soon as I return, I must have some greens. I’m a little tired of the usual kale, spinach and swiss chard. But at the Asian grocery store, I saw red leaf amaranth also known as yeen choy or Chinese spinach. Sometimes they’re also available at the farmer’s market; they’re in season from spring to fall.

The leaves are dark green and tinged with red. Like red swiss chard, when cooked it’ll color anything it comes in contact with a pinkish red. It came be substituted in any spinach recipe but I prefer a simple stir-fry.

Stir-fried Amaranth with Garlic
Serves 2 as part of a meal

1 pound of red leaf amaranth
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup water
Salt

Wash the amaranth in several changes of water, trimming off any old leaves and tough stems. Let dry in a colander or if you’re in a hurry, spin dry the greens.

Heat a wok over high heat until hot. Add the oil and swirl to coat the wok. Add the garlic and stir-fry for a few seconds. Add the amaranth and cover. After about 30 seconds it’ll start to wilt down. Stir bringing up the amaranth at the bottom to the top. Add the water and salt to taste and cover. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the stems are tender. Serve immediately.

Sometimes when I travel, I bring along ramen bowls as another backup option. Not on a plane because that would too much of a hassle, but in the car, I can have a couple of bowls rolling around in the back without too much trouble.

They’re good to have for those lunches or dinners where vegan food was scarce and I find I’m still hungry when I get back to my room. I used the in-room coffee maker to heat up the water for the ramen.

I get them from the Asian grocery store, the Kung-fu brand was $.99 each. My favorite brand was Doll, but I haven’t seen it at the store for a long time. I’ve noticed there’s less vegetarian/vegan flavors as well.

They come with the oil and seasonings/veggies in separate packets. It’s nice to be able to control how much of each to include, I usually use just 1/3 of the oil and maybe 2/3 of the seasonings.

They taste ok, like a typical instant ramen bowl, maybe a step up. I like the seaweed and tiny bits of cabbage. Since I control the oil and seasonings, it’s not too oily or salty. It’s good enough for a quick meal on the road when I’m starving, but nothing beats homemade. I’m glad to be back in my own kitchen.

I’m traveling this week so my eating options is a bit on the limited side. I had read that Papa Johns had vegan pizza dough and sauce. That was to be my backup plan if all else fails. After five days on the road, I placed an online order for pizza delivery. Now I haven’t had pizza delivery in years but desperate times call for desperate measures.

The online ordering was super easy and straight-forward. There’s options to change the toppings and even a “no cheese” button. I went with a large veggie thin crust pizza with no cheese.

Sadly, their thin crust is not vegan, its got some milk product something or other in it. I got all mixed up after reading about which pizza chain has what vegan crusts. I thought it was but it’s the original crust that’s vegan. Lesson learned. I should have double-checked before placing the order. Duh.

Otherwise the pizza was great, the veggies were good, the delivery was on time, and the delivery person pleasant. It came with a couple packets of special seasonings which I didn’t use, and a pepperoncini pepper in the corner of the box. Apparently, pepperoncinis are a traditional Italian garnish. I even got an online discount. Not bad for a chain restaurant in a small town.

I never realize how simple it is to make my own savory baked tofu or maybe it’s because I’m just plain lazy. No, I’m just very busy (that sounds much better). Anyways, it’s not that hard at all.

Unlike Crispy Baked Tofu, there’s no breading involved. Instead tofu is baked in a delicious Chinese 5-spice marinade – great right out of the oven or store in the fridge for use later in stir-fries, spring rolls, salads or even jook.

Chinese 5-spice Baked Tofu
Makes about 9 pieces

1 pound firm tofu
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon Shaoxing rice wine
1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the tofu into 1/4″ thick slices. Wrap the slices in paper towels and place a heavy weight on top for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl and stir until well combined. If it seems a little too thick, add a tiny bit of water to thin it out. Add the tofu slices one at a time to the marinade coating well on all sides. Place the slices on a tin-foil lined baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes on each side.

Mochachocolata-Rita is hosting a Chinese Take-out Party blog event to celebrate her 88th post. The number 88 in Chinese symbolizes fortune and good luck. The Chinese 5-spice Baked Tofu is my contribution to the take-out party.

While I love getting fried tofu for Chinese take-out, it’s probably not the healthiest thing on the menu. Baked tofu has tons of the flavor, an excellent texture and the added bonus of being a bit healthier. Hopefully something all guests can appreciated.

Jook, also known as rice porridge or congee is my idea of comfort food. It reminds me of Mom, home-cooking and all things good. For other people, it’s mac ‘n cheese, chicken noodle soup, buttery mashed potatoes or fill-in-the-blank.

It’s purportedly good for whatever ails you. Got digestive problems? Eat jook. Feeling under the weather? Have some jook. Have a hangover? Here’s a bowl of jook. Fortunately, I’m not dealing with any of those issues at the moment, I just like to eat jook for jook’s sake.

I make mine home-style with all sorts of goodies to flavor the jook while it’s cooking. It’s endlessly adaptable – add whatever ingredients you like, leave out the ones you don’t. My Mom likes a variety of ingredients in her jook, one of which is gingko nuts. I don’t like gingko nuts. I will actually pick them out of my bowl. Mom carries on that they’re expensive, I generously offered mine to her but she didn’t want them. Sorry Mom.

Restaurant-style jook is cooked plain and then topped with your choice of various condiments and garnishes. Sometimes I like to top mine with French’s French Fried Onions for a nice crunchy texture.

I learned to make jook in a large pot, nowadays, I use a fuzzy logic rice cooker with a porridge setting. It makes it super easy. I don’t have to monitor the rice cooker like I would with the pot and it’s a breeze to clean up.

Jook
Makes about 5 1/2 cups

1/2 cup long-grain white rice
4 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked until soft, then chopped
2 1/2 tablespoons Tianjin preserved vegetable, rinsed
1 tablespoon minced ginger
3 ounces baked tofu, chopped
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 green onions chopped
Soy sauce

Cooking directions is for use with a rice cooker with a 5.5 cups capacity. Using the inner pot of the rice cooker, rinse the rice well in several changes of water until the water is clear. Add water to the marked level on the pot according to the rice cooker’s directions.

Add the chopped mushrooms, preserved vegetable, and ginger. Select the porridge setting to begin cooking. The rice cooker will do its thing while you relax. Occasionally, give the pot a stir. After about an hour and a half the rice cooker will beep that it’s done.

Add the tofu, sesame oil, and vinegar to the rice cooker. Press the reheat button to cook another 5 minutes, it’ll beep again when time is up. Ladle into bowls and garnish with green onions. Drizzle with soy sauce to taste.