Chow Vegan

Good Eat • No Meat

Yuba Rolls

By 11 Comments

yuba rolls

Yuba? You betcha!

Yuba is made from the skin that forms on top when soymilk is heated. It’s also known as bean curd skin or tofu skin. It’s usually sold dried or frozen at the Asian grocery store. I’m fortunate enough to be able to get fresh yuba at the local farmer’s market. Fresh yuba. Fresh tofu. Handmade and totally organic. Yes, I’m very spoiled here in the Bay Area.

I made the yuba rolls using the recipe for Homemade Vegetarian Noodle Prawn from The Modern Vegetarian with a few minor changes. As I didn’t have the white radish called for in the recipe, I substituted cooked bamboo shoots instead. And the shape of mine are more like spring rolls (I didn’t do the twist on the end for a tail), then baked in a 350 degree oven for ten minutes on each side or until golden with a lacquered look.

cut yuba rolls

And voilà! You got yourself delicious yuba rolls, way healthier and tastier than the pan-fried version wheeling around on those dim sum carts in Chinese restaurants. They’re also surprisingly easy to make as well. It’s a great, high protein, low carb starter for any Asian meal.

Thai Salad With Strawberries

By 9 Comments

Thai Salad with Strawberries | Chow Vegan

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.

Farm Fresh Strawberries

By 5 Comments

Box of Strawberries | Chow Vegan

I was down south in the Central Coast area last week, and picked up a half flat of farm fresh strawberries from Okui’s Strawberry Stand in Grover Beach. They’re locally grown, actually in the field right there behind the stand. Can’t get any fresher or sweeter than that.

A half flat of strawberries contains 6 pints – that’s a lot of strawberries. I’ve been eating them plain as a snack. I’ve been eating them with cereal for breakfast. I’ve been drinking them in smoothies. I even convinced my Mom to try some in her salad. She thought I was kidding but it really is tasty in green salads.

But there’s still a lot left, I’ll have to think of something else to do with them strawberries. Any suggestions? Oh, I think I hear the freezer calling their name.