Chow Vegan

Animal Style Taters

August 9, 2012 By chow 18 Comments

On a regular basis, I drive by an In-N-Out Burger. Each time, I think of their legendary secret menu (although nowadays, it’s not so secret, just Google it and all is revealed). But for those not in the know, it’s a way of customizing their limited menu of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries and drinks using their special lingo for various options.

One such option is “Animal Style Fries” – extra spread, grilled onions and cheese atop of french fries. For fun, I made a vegan version using tater tots instead of fries, melted Daiya cheddar cheese, whisked up a little sauce of Thousand Island dressing with vegan mayo, ketchup and sweet relish and topped it all off with caramelized onions.

So good! Never actually had the real deal, I’ve only gotten plain fries at In-N-Out, but I can see why Animal Style is so popular. Next time I’m having a veggie burger, I’m going to forget the sprouts. I’m having it Animal Style.

Vegan Ginger Chicken Spring Rolls

July 23, 2012 By chow 12 Comments

In for a review is another Vegetarian Plus item, this time it’s Vegan Ginger Chicken. Not content with just serving it atop of a starch, I made spring rolls.

The lightness of the lettuce along with the refreshing flavors of mint, basil and cilantro contrasts nicely with the savory chewiness of the ginger chicken pieces. Made from soybean fiber and protein, the texture and taste of the mock meat is very similar to what you would find in a Chinese restaurant, but now available in the frozen food section.

In this hot weather, I’ve been making spring rolls on demand for a no sweat lunch, kinda like a rolled up salad.

Just wash and spin dry several heads of baby lettuce, and store in the fridge until ready to use. (I’ve found if I don’t have already cleaned lettuce, I’m too lazy to make just a couple of spring rolls. But if it’s ready to go, then it doesn’t seem like that much work to make; it’s just assembly. Weird, huh?)

And instead of the usual rice noodles, I went with the super-easy-to-use, just-rinse-and-go kelp noodles. Then, it’s just a matter of heating up the veggie chicken and rolling it all up. Easy peasy, summer breezy.

Vegan Ginger Chicken Spring Rolls
Makes 4 rolls

Filling
1 package Vegetarian Plus Vegan Ginger Chicken
1 package kelp noodles, rinse before using
2 heads baby romaine lettuce, shredded
1 small carrot, julienned
1 green onion, thinly chopped
Fresh mint, chiffonade
Fresh basil, chiffonade
Fresh cilantro, chopped

4 eight inch round rice paper sheets
Hoisin sauce (homemade or store-bought)
Sriracha or chili garlic sauce

Defrost the package of Vegan Ginger Chicken and heat up on the stove top as directed on the box. Cut into smaller, bite-sized pieces and set next to the other prepared ingredients.

Fill a large bowl with cold water and dip one rice paper sheet into the water for about 15 seconds or so. Place the rice paper sheet on a flat work surface.

In the center, spread a bit of each of the filling ingredients, adding more or less of each item as desired. Fold in the sides of the rice paper sheet over the filling and firmly roll up. Gently press the seam to seal. Place seam side down on a serving plate. If you’re making more than a few rolls, cover with a damp towel to keep them from drying out while you’re working.

For the dipping sauce, combine a spoonful of the hoisin sauce with a bit of the sriracha to desired spiciness. Thin with a little water if the sauce appears to be too thick.

Slice each roll in half and serve immediately with the dipping sauce.

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

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Mini Chocolate Covered Ice Cream Sandwiches

July 3, 2012 By chow 11 Comments

You didn’t think I’ve forgotten about dessert for the 4th of July, did you? To go along with the Mini Sloppy Joes from my last post, I made Mini Chocolate Covered Ice Cream Sandwiches. Yup, I’ve got a mini food fest going on.

Inspired by San Francisco’s It’s-It, I made a vegan version of their iconic ice cream sandwich – a scoop of vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two old-fashioned oatmeal cookies and then dipped in dark chocolate.

I remembered when I first tried It’s-It shortly after I moved to the Bay Area for work. It’s like a deluxe version of a typical ice cream sandwich.

For the cookie part, I went with the oatmeal raisin recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, but left out the raisins. For the ice cream, I went with Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss Vanilla Island. Both cookie and ice cream are good on their own and so good together. Even before the dip into chocolate.

Oh, the chocolate. I had a bit of a problem with the melted chocolate being very thick and not at all like how you see on food shows with the chocolate just flowing easily all over.

Apparently, you’re not supposed to use chocolate chips for dipping. There’s special chocolate coating products that have oil or something that helps with the melting and flowing. So instead of dipping, I ended up slathering on the chocolate. It’s not very smooth-looking (let’s just say they’re “rustic”) but the taste is all there.

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