Chow Vegan

Veggie Land

July 23, 2013 By chow 14 Comments

It’s always a delight to find vegan food, even more so when it pops up in the most unexpected of places. Veggie Land is a Vietnamese vegetarian spot (more like an oasis) in the food court at the Vallco Shopping Mall in Cupertino.

The mall’s food court is over by JC Penney, and on Friday mornings, there’s a farmer’s market conveniently located just outside in the parking lot. You can shop for fresh fruit and veggies and then go in for a quick bite to eat.

I asked the counter person if everything was vegetarian. “Yes.” Anything vegan? “Yes, everything. No egg and no onion.” As usual, when presented with an entire menu of options, I’m racked with indecision. Should I get one of the noodle soups or the jackfruit salad? I settled on the BBQ plate with vermicelli.

The BBQ is the Asian type of veggie mock meat with a very nice flavor and a chewy, meaty texture. Comes with vermicelli noodles, lettuce, bean sprouts, mint, cucumbers, peanuts, cilantro and a separate container of sauce. I think the pile in the right upper corner is shredded tofu and vegetables.

Everything was very fresh and delicious, and it’s a good sized portion for $6.50. Plus it only took about 5 minutes or so to get my order, pretty darn good for fast food, vegan or not.

Have a Tasty Bite

July 10, 2013 By chow 8 Comments

Up for review is an assortment of food packages from Tasty Bite. I’ve seen them in the store before but haven’t ever tried them. I had thought they were some sort of spice mix or seasonings. I’ve never bothered to actually pick one up to examine it. If I had, I would have seen that the bottom of the package is clear so you can kinda see what’s inside.

Frankly, I was thinking how good can it be, it’s cooked food in a pouch. I was pleasantly surprised that the first two items I tried were indeed tasty.

Starving after going to the gym, I heated up the Thai Lime Rice (rice with lime, coconut and lemongrass) and the Punjap Eggplant (roasted eggplant slow simmered in a tomato and onion sauce) for a quick and easy meal. Both are very fragrant right out of the microwave. And it took only 60 – 90 seconds!

The rice is subtle in flavor, which went well with the more strongly flavored eggplant. I had no idea what I was missing. Simple ingredients that I can actually pronounce in a convenient, easy to heat package.

Coming off of the tastiness of the rice and eggplant, I had high hopes for the Pad Thai Asian Noodles (noodles topped with small pieces of vegetables and peanuts). When I think of Pad Thai, I think of rice noodles. These were wheat noodles, similar to chow mein noodles. I guessing the Pad Thai name refers to the flavor as it’s a bit spicy.

It was ok, not great but not too bad either. The included noodles, veggies and peanuts all came out kinda soft and uniformly brown looking. I pumped it up with a quick stir-fry of whatever fresh veggies I had in the fridge, which greatly improved the dish.

Not pictured is the Kung Pao Asian Noodles (which looked similar to the Pad Thai noodles), I prepared it the same way, adding fresh veggies to the spicy flavored noodles.

Lastly, is the Ginger Lentil Rice (ginger-flavored rice tossed with lentils and red peppers) and Channa Masala (chickpeas slow simmered with onions, tomatoes and spices), the Indian entrees are way better for food in a pouch. I would get either one of those again. And the rice over the noodles.

Since no refrigeration is required, they’re great for traveling or for stashing at the office for those days when you need something super quick.

Disclosure: I received the products free of charge from the company to review. The opinions and experience with the products expressed herein are my own. There was no pay to say.

Flavored Homemade Baked Potato Chips

June 30, 2013 By chow

As a huge fan of Earth Balance Vegan Aged White Cheddar Flavor Puffs, I just had to do something with the flavored seasoning powder found at the bottom of an empty bag. Some sort of snacky food. Chips. Baked potato chips with rosemary and aged white cheddar flavor.

Hot out of the oven, I dropped the chips into the empty bag, shook it up and pour the chips out. I’m tickled pink to find a use for that powder. Next time though, I’ll try sprinkling it on top instead and see how that works out.

Have you tried a bag of the puffs lately? They seem to be puffier than the ones that I reviewed back in April. Or is that just my imagination? Doesn’t seem possible but I like them even more now.

Are you sad-faced because you just can’t find the puffs anywhere near you? No puffs, no powder. Then, how about a different flavor? Baked spicy potato chips with cilantro, jalapeño and lime.

Flavored Homemade Baked Potato Chips
Serves 1 to 2

1 russet potato
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
Chili powder to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Garnishes
Cilantro, chopped
Jalapeño, thinly sliced
Lime wedges

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Thinly slice the potato crosswise into about 3/8 inch thick slices. I hand-cut mine but if you have a mandoline, you can probably get them thinner and more even and consistent. If you do make your slices thinner, you may need to adjust the cooking time and/or temperature so the chips don’t get burnt towards the end of the cooking time.

Place the potato slices in a bowl. Add the olive oil, chili powder, salt and pepper and mix well. Spread the potatoes out on a baking pan in a single layer. Bake about 8 – 12 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of the potato slices. Sprinkle with the cilantro and jalapeño and squeeze lime juice over the top. Serve immediately.

For the Aged White Cheddar and Rosemary Flavored Potato Chips
Omit the chili powder and add crushed dried rosemary to taste. Bake until done, and instead of the garnishes, add the flavored powder from an empty bag of Earth Balance Puffs to the chips.