Chow Vegan

While I’m not a big fan of heat waves, I do enjoy what else summertime brings - a bounty of fresh, delicious, sweet fruit.

Since I got all of the fruit (except the lychees) from the local farmer’s market, it doesn’t really need much more to make it any better - just a bit of lime juice and mint.

Minty Summer Fruit Salad
Serves 2

1 white peach
1 pint strawberries
6 lychees, fresh or canned
1 lime
1 tablespoon mint, minced
Agave nectar

Chill the fruit before using, wash and slice the peach and strawberries. Slice the lychees. In a mixing bowl, juice the lime. Add the mint and a drizzle of agave nectar to taste, mix well. Add the fruit to the bowl and make sure everything is well coated.

To plate, fan out the peaches. Pile the strawberries on one side, top with the lychees. Garnish with additional mint.

No Croutons Required is a monthly food blogging event hosted by Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa’s Kitchen. This month’s theme is a vegetarian soup or salad showcasing your favorite herb or one you haven’t experimented with yet.

Minty Summer Fruit Salad is my entry for the event. Mint is one of my favorite herbs, but I usually add it to savory dishes (I don’t know why, it’s just how I am). The minty fruit salad is a refreshing change from my normal usage of the herb, so it’s an favorite and kinda an experiment. And now it’s my favorite experiment.

Like so many other places, it was rather warm here last week and I haven’t felt like firing up the kitchen because of the heat. Or if I do, I’m try to limit the use of the stove and the oven is definitely a big no.

So, salad is good.

Chinese Veggie Chicken Salad is one of my favorites - I love the taste combo of the Chinese 5-spice flavor in the dressing, the crispy veggie chicken pieces and the pickled leeks.

Chinese Veggie Chicken Salad
Serves 2 as part of a meal

1 Romaine lettuce heart, shredded
3 ounces spicy breaded veggie chicken or tofu, chopped
2 stalks green onions, chopped
8 pickled leeks, sliced

Dressing
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice

Toasted sesame seeds

In a bowl, combine the first four ingredients for the salad. In a smaller bowl, combine the dressing ingredients and mix well. Just before you’re ready to serve, add to taste the dressing to the salad and combine well. Serve immediately, topped with the toasted sesame seeds.

I first tried oyster mushrooms at Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco. They were amazing and a real eye-opener. Up to that point, I’ve just been cooking with the usual portobellos, shiitakes and white button mushrooms.

Years later, I spot a package of king oyster mushrooms at the grocery store. They look sorta like oyster mushrooms only super sized and figured they must kinda taste like oyster mushrooms too. I’ve been hooked ever since. And no, they’re not “magic mushrooms”, they just taste great.

King oyster mushrooms, Pleurotus eryngii also know as king trumpet mushrooms have a firm, meaty texture and a nutty flavor. Unlike so many other mushrooms, the stem is cooked and has the same flavor and texture as the cap. Wonderful when sliced and sautéed until the edges are golden and browned - my favorite way to prepare the mushrooms. Its texture becomes smooth, slightly chewy with a little crunch at the end.

King Oyster Mushroom Salad
Serves 2 as a first course

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small shallot, minced
6 ounces slender green beans
2 small Belgian endive heads
4 ounces king oyster mushrooms such as Trumpet Royale™
Salt

Wash and dry the endive then thinly slice on the diagonal. Combine the vinegar, olive oil and shallots in a small bowl. In another bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the dressing and the endive and toss, let stand for 15 minutes. Wash and trim the green beans and cook until tender crisp. Set aside to cool.

Wash the mushrooms and slice into 1/8″ rounds on the diagonal, for the smaller mushrooms, slice the whole mushroom vertically. In a wok or pan, heat until hot and add just enough olive oil to coat. Add the mushrooms and salt to taste, sauté until soft, slightly wilted and golden around the edges.

To plate, pile the endive mixture in the middle of each plate. Add the green beans next and drizzle a little of the dressing over the green beans, top with the mushrooms. Serve immediately.

No Croutons Required is a monthly food blogging event hosted by Lisa’s Kitchen and Tinned Tomatoes. Each month bloggers are invited to submit a vegetarian soup or salad recipe; this month’s theme is mushroom soup or salad. I’m submitting the King Oyster Mushroom Salad. Its got a fancy and elegant look about it but it’s actually easy to make and impressive looking to serve.

With my overabundance of luscious strawberries, I wanted to try something new, something spectacular, something worthy of such fresh and sweet strawberries.

I made a salad.

But not your ordinary run-of-the-mill salad, I made a Thai salad with a little spicy kick to it. It’s got the tasty flavors associated with Thai food, but with the addition of strawberries, it’s entirely new and refreshingly different.

Thai Salad with Strawberries
Serves 4

1 pint strawberries
1/2 pound Bloomsdale spinach or other fresh small leaf variety
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons lime juice, about one lime
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
2 small green onions, minced
A few sprigs of fresh cilantro, minced

Wash and hull the strawberries, cut into 3/8″ cubes and set aside. Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring often until light golden or in an 350 degree oven on a baking sheet for about 10 minutes, shaking halfway through.

Combine the lime juice, soy sauce, sugar, chili garlic sauce, green onions and cilantro in a bowl and whisk together. Divide the spinach between the plates. Add the strawberries to the bowl of dressing and toss, then spoon on top of the spinach. Sprinkle with the pine nuts and serve immediately.

Once upon a time, there was a Japanese restaurant in downtown Palo Alto, California. It was one of my favorite restaurants and I think one of the first East-West fusion restaurants around. They were very innovative yet the food was very simple. They had some of the best vegan dishes. So sad when they closed down. This recipe is inspired by their Asian salad. Now if I could just remember what was in their vegetable roll, I’ll be golden.

Cold Soba Noodle Salad
Serves 2

6 ounces buckwheat soba noodles
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 hearts of palm
2 small ripe tomatoes

In a large bowl, mix the rice vinegar, soy sauce and olive oil; set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the noodles and cook for about one minute or according to the package directions. Drain the noodles and rinse briefly under cold water. Add the noodles to the dressing and mix to coat well. Cover and chill for an hour or until cold.

Divide the noodles between two shallow bowls, drizzle a little bit of the dressing on top of the noodles. Quarter the hearts of palm lengthwise and slice the tomatoes, place on top of the noodles and serve.