Chow Vegan

Roasted Asparagus Soup From The Vegan Table

July 12, 2009 By chow 9 Comments

In reviewing The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, I was immediately struck by the amount of photos in the book. I have quite a few vegan cookbooks without any pictures at all. I love looking at pictures of food, especially if I’m attempting to make said food.

Having said that, I of course, decided to make the Roasted Asparagus Soup with Thyme which had no picture. I just had to do something with all that asparagus in the fridge. It was delicious, creamy and very easy to make.

Although I was a little surprised that the recipe called for only the asparagus tips to be roasted. Then again, I’m biased towards roasting lots of veggies and had to refrain myself from eating all of the tips while the soup was cooking.

The Vegan Table is organized around various entertaining menus, from cozy romantic dinners to casual dining, holidays and special occasions. Besides the wide range of recipes, there’s also helpful tips and interesting tidbits. A fine addition to any kitchen library, whether for a single recipe or a complete menu plan.

Related Links
Check out The Vegan Table for yourself at your local bookstore or at The Vegan Table. To learn more about Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, check out her blog here.

Vietnamese Bánh Mì Sandwich

June 29, 2009 By chow 9 Comments

A few months ago, I tried a Vietnamese sandwich, bánh mì. All I can say is where have I been? And why didn’t anyone tell me about them before! If you’re like me and wondering what is a bánh mì, well then, let me tell you so that you too may be enlightened.

Originating from Vietnam, the bánh mì combines French influence with Vietnamese ingredients and flavors. Consisting of a crusty French baguette and filled with some type of meat, pickled carrots and daikon, cucumbers, cilantro, jalapeños and mayonnaise. These can of course be varied according to individual taste.

What I find so appealing is the many flavors and textures – the spicy and the sour, the savory, the crunchy and the chewy – it’s all there. Inspired to try it at home, I made mine with sliced smoked seitan with pickled carrots and daikon, fresh cilantro and mint, spicy vegan mayo on a toasted sourdough micro baguette, served with sweet potatoes fries.

I don’t have much of a recipe, after all it is a sandwich. And I basically bought most of the ingredients ready-to-eat except for the pickled carrots and daikon. For that, I just took a vegetable peeler to the carrot and daikon to get the extra thin strips and dunked it into a mixture of 1 tablespoon salt, 1 1/2 tablespoon sugar and a 1/4 cup of rice vinegar. Let chill for about an hour until ready to assemble the sandwich.

RawDaddy Foods

June 24, 2009 By chow 9 Comments

At the farmer’s market this week, I came across the RawDaddy Foods booth. I’ve been meaning to try out their food so I was pretty happy to see them there. It must have been fate. They’re usually at a different market that’s much further away from me.

RawDaddy offers up various flavors of raw, vegan food stuffed in a crunchy flaxseed cone. They have savory as well as sweet flavors like berries and ice cream.

I had my eye on the Forest and Earth Mushroom Polenta Cone – corn polenta, portabella, oyster and brown mushrooms in white truffle oil and sea salt marinade and topped with mustard vinaigrette. Unfortunately, the vinaigrette had been forgotten and was en route to the market.

So I got the Spicy Thai Salad Cone instead – cabbage, mango, herbs, and cashews tossed in a creamy dressing and topped off with tamarind sauce (pictured above). Bright, fresh and full of Thai flavor – it was so good! If all raw food taste like this, I could actually be persuaded to give up cooked food.