Just on the heels of the 35th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, here comes more evidence that the domino theory was bunk (or, at least, that the dominoes fall easier in the other direction): Carl’s Jr. has just opened its first outpost in Vietnam — in Ho Chi Minh City to boot.
Although KFC and Pizza Hut have already successfully invaded territory formerly held by the Vietcong, this marks the first arrival of a U.S.-based burger joint, according to Carl’s Jr. parent company, CKE Restaurants.
“We are happy to introduce real American-style charbroiled burgers to the [Vietnamese] market,” said CKE CEO Andrew Puzder.
Where once the image of the red star marching across southeast Asia had foreign policy strategists trembling, today there’s another star on the march, only this one has a smiley face. Carl’s Jr. says that it is “actively seeking new franchisees” throughout the region. It already has restaurants in China, Singapore, Malaysia, and American Samoa, and the company has a “strategic development plan” to double its international presence over the next five years, including at least 24 more restaurants in Vietnam and 25 restaurants in Indonesia, starting with its first in Jakarta later this year
Read more: http://www.slashfood.com/2010/06/02/conquering-southeast-asia-one-big-carl-at-a-time/#ixzz0poeX9Vaf
EVEN preschool teachers unwind with a round of drinks now and then. But in professional kitchens, where the hours are long, the pace intense and the goal is to deliver pleasure, the need to blow off steam has long involved substances that are mind-altering and, often enough, illegal.
“Everybody smokes dope after work,” said Anthony Bourdain, the author and chef who made his name chronicling drugs and debauchery in professional kitchens. “People you would never imagine.”
So while it should not come as a surprise that some chefs get high, it’s less often noted that drug use in the kitchen can change the experience in the dining room.
In the 1980s, cocaine helped fuel the frenetic open kitchens and boisterous dining rooms that were the incubators of celebrity chef culture. Today, a small but influential band of cooks says both their chin-dripping, carbohydrate-heavy food and the accessible, feel-good mood in their dining rooms are influenced by the kind of herb that can get people arrested.
Call it haute stoner cuisine.
“There has been an entire strata of restaurants created by chefs to feed other chefs,” Mr. Bourdain said. “These are restaurants created specially for the tastes of the slightly stoned, slightly drunk chef after work.”
As examples of places serving that kind of food, he offered some of David Chang’s restaurants; Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal, with its poutine of foie gras; Crif Dogs in the East Village, which makes a deep-fried cheese steak hot dog; and, in fact, the entire genre of mutant-hot-dog stands.
To be sure, substance abuse and addiction are concerns in the restaurant industry, and any restaurant where an employee or owner is caught with illegal drugs could lose its liquor license.
It is also hard to imagine any ambitious kitchen could function safely during dinner rush if the staff were impaired.
And despite what Mr. Bourdain said, a great many cooks get along just fine with no chemical assistance at all.
Nevertheless, a handful of chefs are unabashedly open about marijuana’s role in their creative and recreational lives and its effect on their restaurants.
The chefs and restaurateurs Frank Falcinelli and Frank Castronovo said most of their projects — going to Sicily to import olive oil to sell at their two Frankies Spuntino restaurants; the concept for their Brooklyn restaurant Prime Meats; even a new restaurant planned for Portland, Ore. — were conceived with the creative help of marijuana.
Roy Choi, who owns the fleet of Kogi Korean taco trucks in Los Angeles, likens the culinary culture that has grown up around marijuana to the one that rose up around the Grateful Dead years ago. Then, people who attended the band’s shows got high and shared live music. Now, people get high and share delicious, inventive and accessible food.
“It’s good music, maybe a little weed and really good times and great food that makes you feel good,” he said.
“We’re not like Cypress Hill,” Mr. Choi said, referring to a rap group known for being outspoken advocates of pot use. “It’s not like a campaign to make food out of hemp, but it is a culture. It’s a vibe we have.”
Mr. Choi, who recently opened his first restaurant, Chego!, said he uses marijuana to keep his creativity up and to squeeze in quick breaks in the midst of 17-hour workdays.
“In the middle of a busy day, I’ll smoke,” he said. “Then I’ll go to the record store and hang out and clear my mind or pop into a matinee movie and then come back to the streets.”
Getting in touch with the haute stoner food aesthetic, though, does not necessarily mean looking at life through a haze of smoke.
The cereal milk soft-serve ice cream at Momofuku Milk Bar in Manhattan is a perfect example. A dessert based on the slightly sweet flavor of milk at the bottom of a cereal bowl particularly appeals to someone who knows both high-quality food and the cannabis-induced pleasure of a munchie session built from a late-night run to the 7-Eleven.
Christina Tosi, the pastry chef of David Chang’s empire, said she was stone-cold sober when she invented it. She was in the basement of Mr. Chang’s Ssam Bar late at night, trying to save a failed experiment in fried apple pies.
“I promise you there was no marijuana involved,” she said. “It would have made the stress of it more bearable if it was.”
Mr. Chang said drugs will always be part of kitchen culture, but that marijuana alone did not explain the changes in the culinary landscape that his restaurants represent.
“I don’t know what happened,” he said. “But it certainly wasn’t calculated. We wanted to serve great food at an affordable price. That’s it.”
Patty Scull, who lives in the East Village, recently spent part of an evening at Momofuku Milk Bar spooning up cinnamon-bun cereal milk soft-serve with chocolate fudge topping.
“It’s so random that it’s something you would eat if you were totally baked,” she said. (For the record, she said she wasn’t.)
Ms. Tosi defines haute stoner cuisine as the kind of food that tastes good in the altered state marijuana brings.
“You like to eat stuff with texture and that is really deep in flavors,” said Ms. Tosi, who acknowledged the stoner appeal of her creations. “You want the ultimate sensory experience.”
Even for people who don’t use illegal drugs, the deep flavors and sensory appeal of dishes like the breakfast burrito pizza at Roberta’s in Bushwick, Brooklyn, have an undeniable appeal. They plug directly into the reptilian portion of our brains, the side that wants what it wants and wants it now — and also a big bowl of it, please.
“I always call it the Big Mac effect,” said the chef Vinny Dotolo, who owns Animal in Los Angeles with Jon Shook. Mr. Shook’s version of the French-Canadian dish poutine, built from Cheddar cheese and French fries covered in oxtail gravy, might be considered for the haute stoner food hall of fame.
The McDonald’s sandwich is familiar and offers a range of tastes, Mr. Dotolo said. There are savory elements from the cheese and beef, sweetness from the sauce, tartness from the pickle and crunch from the lettuce, all surrounded by soft white bread.
“It’s that thing where you’re trying to hit all the senses,” he said.
If you are still skeptical, check out a Web-based show called “Munchies” (www.vbs.tv/watch/munchies), which follows chefs as they party and eat late into the night, then head back to their kitchens to cook. Billows of smoke and doobie references abound. Although the show can be cagey about who is doing the smoking, featured chefs have included the men from Animal, Mr. Chang and the Franks — Mr. Falcinelli and Mr. Castronovo.
Joanne Weir, a San Francisco cooking teacher and television personality who went to Woodstock at age 15, said that there is a difference between this period in stoner cuisine and the cooking of the hippie movement. “It’s people’s pursuit of the best ingredients,” she said.
Chefs who smoke say that includes the marijuana itself.
“The quality of marijuana you’re getting, just like the quality of booze you’re getting and the quality of food you’re getting, is better,” Mr. Falcinelli said.
Although marijuana has long been a part of restaurant culture, its current prominence results, he said, from “a triple coincidence.”
More states are legalizing marijuana or offering medical marijuana plans, so there is more and better pot in circulation, Mr. Falcinelli and other chefs said. At the same time, diners are wild about high-end snacking: witness the rise of food carts and the elevation of humble dishes like pizza, hamburgers and pork buns.
The chefs of the haute stoner cuisine movement are just as obsessive about their marijuana as they are about olive oil, wine or coffee.
“It’s like getting the best cheese,” Mr. Falcinelli said. “I have like four or five different types of marijuana in my refrigerator right now.”
The sensibility extends to the latest wave of coffee culture. Coffee geeks are as infatuated with their Pacas varietal beans from Central America as pot users are with their sticky sinsemilla from Humboldt County in California.
Duane Sorenson, the founder of the coffee roaster Stumptown, said that fat buds of marijuana often end up in the tip jar at his shops.
“It goes hand in hand with a cup of coffee,” he said. “It’s called wake and bake. Grab a cup of Joe and get on with it.”
Yet this is not the ’70s stoner culture of a thousand basement rec rooms, with chefs sprawled on the floor saying, “Dude, where’s my entree?” Some of the haute stoners claim that marijuana gives them an intense focus.
“We smoke quote-unquote the working man’s weed,” Mr. Falcinelli said. Mr. Castronovo added: “I’m not spacey at all. It gives me energy.”
Much of the food of the haute stoner movement is well crafted and well executed by chefs with traditional culinary training who are trying to create something both countercultural and sophisticated, said Gail Simmons, special project director of Food & Wine magazine.
“You need to have some thought and some skill to make these dishes,” she said. “It’s not just, ‘I’m twirling around at a Dead concert and I stumbled upon this cool dish.’ ”
Mr. Bourdain said Mr. Chang is a case in point.
“His sensibility is that he makes high-end stoner food in one respect but I feel sorry for anyone who shows up stoned for their shift at Momofuku,” he said. “He’d kill them.”
Mr. Chang’s establishments, Mr. Bourdain said, typify the stripping away of pretense that defines the haute stoner restaurant. Tables are bare, plates and napkins might be luxe but plain. Food comes flying from the kitchen when it’s done, courses be damned.
“If you’re stoned in a restaurant, you don’t want to deal with six layers of tableware,” Mr. Bourdain said.
Diners like the democratization of food that is part of haute stoner cuisine, as well. Rick Darge, 27, who lives in an area he calls “Beverly Hills adjacent,” seeks out Mr. Choi’s roaming taco trucks about once a week, using Twitter or the Web.
The search is part of the appeal, as is finding a piece of curb to sit while he eats. He feels more involved in the experience.
“We don’t have to go into an establishment, or be a certain way inside,” he said. “It’s more organic than that.”
Haute stoner cuisine is a way to reach a generation that was raised on Sprite and Funyuns and who never thought fancy restaurant food was for them, Mr. Choi said.
“We’ve shattered who is getting good food now,” he said. “It’s this silent message to everyone, to the every-day dude. It’s like come here, here’s a cuisine for you that will fill you up from the inside and make you feel whole and good. Weed is just a portal.”
Ron Siegel, who runs the Michelin-starred dining room at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco, said he’s grown past his partying days. But even he is having a little fun with haute stoner cuisine.
To serve slow-cooked quail eggs and caviar, he places them atop plastic film that tightly covers a white porcelain serving bowl. Then he fills the vessel with smoke from grated Japanese cedar packed into the bowl of a fan-driven bong he buys in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. The smoke escapes when the diner lifts a small spoon covering a hole in the plastic.
He calls it the Lincecum, after Tim Lincecum, the star pitcher for the San Francisco Giants who was arrested last fall after police found marijuana and a pipe in his car.
Like other chefs who have been around long enough to see a few trends come and go, Mr. Siegel thinks stoner food is really another version of comfort food. After particularly high-flying cultural periods or national tragedies, people retreat to dishes that are soothing and familiar, he said.
Or it could be that after an era of intensely designed or pretentious food, a retreat to simplicity follows, said Ken Friedman, the man behind the Spotted Pig and a self-described “well-known stoner.”
He doesn’t characterize the food at the Pig or at the Breslin as stoner food as much as simple food. But he is a businessman who recognizes a good trend when he sees one. He designed his bar and snack emporium, the Rusty Knot, to have a ’70s feel, with comfortable couches, black-light posters and snacks that are easily consumed with one hand.
“The Rusty Knot is the most stoner of all my places,” he said. “It’s kind of like the basement we all had when we grew up where we first smoked pot.”
Tomatoes, like rhubarb, have an acidity that’s on par with strawberries, and a high-quality aged balsamic, which is more sweet than tart, helps to round out the flavors.
Spaghetti with Strawberries
From Sfoglia Restaurant
Ingredients
1 pound good-quality dried spaghetti (like Setaro)
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for finishing
1 pound ripe strawberries, cleaned and halved
2 tablespoons good aged (eight-year-old) balsamic vinegar
1 cup San Marzano tomato purée
4 ounces reserved pasta water
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Freshly grated parmesan, for serving (optional)
Directions
- Cook the pasta in rapidly boiling salted water until al dente.
- In a large sauté pan, warm the olive oil and half of the strawberries over medium heat. Cook until the strawberries start to release juice. Add balsamic and reduce by half.
- Add tomato purée, the rest of the strawberries, and the reserved pasta water, and reduce by half again until the sauce thickens. Season to taste.
- Toss with spaghetti. Finish with olive oil and black pepper.
Serves 4.
Just looking at this makes me wanna hurl. How can Americans eat this much food? This would never happen over here!
The Double Down Sandwich phenomenon is catching on and this time breakfast is taking the hit. Available now through June 20, IHOP is offering customers their newest pancake sensation: “Pancake Stackers.” Crustless cheesecake is layered between two of their classic pancakes and are topped with strawberry, blueberry or cinnamon-apple compote (no, we’re not joking).
“With our latest promotion, IHOP took the value we’re known for and topped it with one of America’s favorite flavors — cheesecake,” said Carolyn O’Keefe, IHOP’s senior vice president, marketing in an official press release. “We’re pleased to offer guests a delicious new way to stack up the fun this spring as they celebrate moms, dads, grads, or just a simple escape from their every day.”
Chain restaurants across the nation will be required to post calorie counts on their menus for each item that they serve, under the huge health care overhaul.
The law, signed Tuesday by President Barack Obama, was lauded by nutrition advocates as well as the restaurant industry.
“People will be able to see that the order of chili cheese fries they are considering will be 3,000 calories,” said nutrition advocate Margo Wootan, who helped write the bill.
This week’s action also requires calorie counts from vending machines, buffets, alcoholic drink menus and drive-through restaurants.
The law applies to restaurant chains that have 20 or more locations with the same name nationwide. More than 200,000 fast-food and other chain restaurants will be covered. The National Restaurant Association supported the federal labeling law because it would create a single national standard. The legislation would pre-empt local and state laws.
Until now, cities, counties and states were each able to develop their own rules, and many already have them in place.
“This legislation will replace a growing patchwork of varying state and local regulations with one consistent national standard that helps consumers make choices that are best for themselves and their families,” said Dawn Sweeney, chief executive of the National Restaurant Association.
In addition to putting calorie counts on menus, the law requires restaurants to provide consumers with other nutritional information, including the amount of sodium, carbohydrates, fiber and protein in each standard serving of their food.
The bill was written to conform with existing law for labeling packaged food sold in grocery stores and other places. Specific rules about the labeling, including the font size on menus and signs, will be worked out by the Food and Drug Administration.
Some portions of the law go into effect immediately. Experts estimate that it could take up to two years before the menu guidelines are issued.
I found this yummy looking recipe on the blog Vegan Panamonuim
Level of Difficulty: fairly easy
Pots/Pans Used: 2/3
Ingredients
1 pkg extra firm tofu
3/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Italian herbs
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup water
1 TBL lemon juice
1/2 cup whole wheat Japanese panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 large eggplant, sliced
olive oil
1 jar tomato sauce (I used a spicy tomato sauce. It was nice to have a bit of heat in the dish)
Daiya mozzarella (optional)
I haven’t had eggplant parmesan in so long that i actually forgot what it tasted like. I knew this dish was good because with my first bite, all the eggplant parm flavors rushed back to me and it was an extremely nostalgic experience. Comfort food just rules!
Preheat oven to 350. First mix your panko, 1/2 cup nutritional yeast and bread crumbs (I recommend making your own bread crumbs) in a bowl. Brush some olive oil on the sides of your eggplant slices and coat them in the crumb mixture. Place them on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, you can begin your ricotta mixture. In a food processor, place the remaining 1/4 cup nutritional yeast and ingredients tofu thru lemon juice. Process until it resembles the texture of ricotta cheese. Now begin the layering process. In a casserole dish, spread a little tomato sauce, then eggplant slices, then spread out all of the ricotta mixture, then more eggplant, more tomato sauce and finally as much Daiya cheese as your heart desires. Pop it in the oven for 30 minutes.
Just made these! Recipe to follow tomorrow!
In France, public school students sit down to a five course lunch every day, and no meal is repeated for two months. Your child’s prepacked lunch of favorites probably pales in comparison.
A Time magazine article, marveled at the French public school system’s lunch program since US moms try a variety of tricks to entice their tots to eat something other than the standard peanut butter and jelly sandwich, chips and a piece of fruit. While the first lady begins an initiative to increase vegetable consumption among lil tykes, their French counterparts can sit back and peruse a monthly menu that includes an hors d’oeuvre, salad, main course, cheese plate and dessert as well as dinner suggestions for home.
Some may argue that the time to consume such a meal would be better placed in the classroom, but given the staggering US childhood obesity epidemic, and the known benefits of the French diet, perhaps spending more time learning about food would benefit our children.
I found this amazing recipe at chowvegan.com. This chef is not just an amazing cook but a sick photographer!
Leek and Mushroom Quiche
Makes one pie
1 pre-made whole wheat pie crust
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium-sized leek, white and pale green parts only, coarsely chopped
5 ounces crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 pound Bloomsdale spinach, or other fresh small leaf spinach
1 pound firm fresh tofu, water pressed out
1/2 cup soy milk
Salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 tablespoon dried thyme
1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
Olive oil
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Precook the pie crust according to the package directions if necessary.
Heat a skillet until hot, lightly drizzle with olive oil and saute garlic and leeks until done, season with salt to taste while cooking. Transfer to a dish and set aside. Heat skillet again and saute and season the mushrooms until cooked, drain any water and set aside. Saute and season the spinach until just wilted. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Squeeze out any water and coarsely chop.
In a food processor or blender, combine the tofu, soy milk, salt and pepper to taste, nutmeg, thyme, parsley and nutritional yeast, process until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl, add the vegetables, mix well and scoop into the pie crust, spreading the filling evenly. Bake for about 35 minutes, let the quiche cool for 10 minutes before slicing.
I found this amazing recipe at chowvegan.com. This chef is not just an amazing cook but a sick photographer!
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.
another amazing recipe from chowvegan.com.
Crispy Baked Tofu
Makes 10 to 12 slices
1 pound firm or extra firm tofu, drained and water pressed out
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Olive oil
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the tofu into 1/4″ thick slices. In a shallow bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder and salt, mix well.
Brush a baking sheet with olive oil. Take one tofu slice and brush the sides and edges with olive oil, place in the breadcrumbs and coat well. Then place onto the baking sheet. Repeat until all the slices are coated.
Bake tofu slices for about 20 – 30 minutes until light golden brown and crispy, turning them over halfway through. Serve with your dipping sauce of choice – ketchup, bbq sauce, or ranch dressing.
Though Yourveganmom.com isn’t related to Vegan Dad, it’s got a lot of yummy comfort food recipes.
Mac ’n Cheese Bites
1 1/2 c. elbow macaroni, boiled in salted water, and drained
1 1/2 c. grated cheddar (I used Follow Your Heart)
2 T. minced green onion (yellow onion works too)
eggy mixture:
1 package firm silken tofu
1/4 c. soy milk
2 T. nutritional yeast
1 T. corn starch
1 T. butter (I used Smart Balance Light)
1/2 t. salt
Heat the oven to 375. Grease two muffin pans with cooking spray.
Whir all the ingredients for the eggy mixture in the blender or food processor until smooth.
In a large bowl stir together the macaroni, the grated cheese, the minced onion, and the eggy mixture. Spoon into the prepared muffin pans.
Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until the edges are nicely browned and the middle is firm.
Cool in pan for a few minutes before you gently dump them out.
Makes 18 smallish muffin-size macaroni bites or 48 tiny mini-muffin bites.
I found this amazing recipe at chowvegan.com.
Home-style Vegan Meatloaf
Makes 4 mini loaves
Adapted from the Chickpea Cutlets recipe in Veganomicon
1/2 small white onion, finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
2 small carrots, finely chopped
1 15-ounce can chickpeas
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup water
Ketchup for glaze
Heat sauté pan to hot, add 1 teaspoon olive oil. Sauté onion until translucent, then add the carrots and celery. Cook for about 2 minutes; set aside and let cool.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Place in a large bowl, and smash with a fork. Add the rest of the ingredients including the cooked vegetables. Mix together and knead for a few minutes until strings of gluten have formed and everything sticks together in a big ball.
Divide the ball into 4 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a small loaf. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and lightly oil. Place the loaves on the tin foil and brush both sides with oil. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn over and glaze the top with ketchup. Bake another 10 minutes until firm. Cut into slices and serve with wasabi mashed potatoes or your favorite sides.
I found this blog called Vegan Dad and it’s pretty cool because it shows just how kid friendly veganism can be.
This is a nice, simple soup, perfect with the baguettes you see in the background.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 large sweet onion, diced
- 1 shallot, diced
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 2 heads of broccoli, cut into florets
- about 3 cups water
- 2 cups cashew cream (or soy creamer/soy milk/coconut milk)
- salt and pepper to taste
METHOD
1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute onion, shallot, celery, and garlic for 15 mins, until nice and soft and stating to get golden.
2. Add broccoli and enough water to cover about 3/4 of the way up (about 3 cups). You don’t want too much water or the final soup will be too thin. Cover and simmer for 15-20 mins, until veggies are soft.
3. Blend broccoli mixture with an immersion blender (or what have you) until very smooth. Add in cashew cream and season to taste. Heat to desired temperature, then serve.
Courtesy of Chowvegan.com
Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup
Makes about 7 cups
6 cups water
1 tablespoon vegan chicken base bouillon
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 medium leek, white and a little of the green part, sliced into 1/8″ rounds
2 medium carrots, sliced into 1/8″ rounds
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon granulated onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 7-ounce package Gardein chick’n filets, diced
2 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
4 ounces dried whole wheat linguine noodles
Dissolve the bouillon in one cup of boiling water, set aside.
Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions and leeks, sauté until translucent. Add the carrots and celery and sauté for 2 minutes.
Add the bouillon broth and the rest of the water, bay leaves, granulated onion and salt and pepper to taste. Increase the heat to bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer for about 5 minutes.
Add the veggie chicken pieces, parsley and the noodles broken into thirds. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for 10 minutes. Discard the bay leaves before serving.
I don’t remember where I found this recipe but it looks DELISH!
Ingredients
1 pkg mushrooms, sliced (I used 2 portobello caps)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBL olive oil
1 TBL soy sauce
1 tortilla
Tofutti’s herb & chive cream cheese
fresh basil
Preheat the oven to 350. Pop the tortilla in the oven on a baking sheet and let it crisp up ( I didn’t pay attention to how long it took, sorry). In a saute pan over medium heat, add the oil and garlic. Next, add the mushrooms and once they get a nice sear, add the soy sauce. Saute another 3-4 minutes. Spread the cream cheese onto the crisp tortilla and then top with the garlicky mushrooms. Chop up some fresh basil to garnish on top. Cut into slices and feel free to pig out!
Hollandaise sauce
Cooked Noodles
Brocolini
1 pkg Potobello Mushrooms
1 TBL olive oil
2 TBL lemon juice
1 TBL soy sauce
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook until nicely seared. Then, add the soy sauce to to pan and cook an additional couple minutes. Set aside the mushrooms. Add the brocolini to the pan and saute with the lemon juice. Add the mushrooms back into the pan along with the noodles, sauce and nutritional yeast. Coat well. Yum!
BBQ Yuba Ribs
Makes 4-5 servings
Adapted from the Un-Ribs recipe in Kathy Cooks by Kathy Hoshijo
1 6-ounce package dried bean curd sticks
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoon white miso
2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 cup bbq sauce
Soak the bean curd sticks in water for a few hours until soft. Drain and squeeze out any water. Cut into 4-6″ lengths, if there’s any hard pieces (usually where it folds) cut those off.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a lightly-oiled piece of tin foil. In a large bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients except the bbq sauce into a smooth thin paste. Coat the bean curd sticks in the paste and place on the baking sheet in a single layer.
Bake for 25 minutes or until the bottoms are crisp and browned. Remove from the oven and mix with the bbq sauce. Place back onto the baking sheet in a single layer and bake an additional 10-15 minutes.
Roasted Tofu with Leeks and Black Bean Sauce
Serves 2
1 16-ounce block of extra-firm tofu
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Sauce
1 medium leek, white and some green part, cut into 2 inch sections
2 tablespoons fermented black beans, mashed with a fork
1 teaspoon oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup water
Arrowroot dissolved in water
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl, combine the oil, salt and paprika. Cut the tofu into cubes and gently toss to coat with the mixture. Place each tofu cube in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Roast for 15 minutes on each side.
Heat a wok to hot, add the oil. Swirl the oil to coat the wok. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and black beans. Stir-fry for a few seconds, then add the leeks. Stir-fry for a few minutes, add the water and cook until the leeks are tender.
Slowly add the arrowroot mixture and stir to thicken the sauce to desired consistency. Add the tofu and mix well. Serve with rice.
Cream Cheese Cut Out Cookies
- 1 cup non-dairy butter, softened
- 8 ounces non-dairy cream cheese, softened
- 1 1/2 cups sugar (10.5 ounces)
- 1 tablespoon flax meal + 3 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (17.5 ounces)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
In a small bowl, mix flax meal and water and set aside to thicken. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add sugar and beat again until fluffy and light. Add the thickened flax mixture and the vanilla – again, beat until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour and salt until just combined. Chill until firm, at least 1 1/2 hours or overnight.
On a lightly floured surface, roll to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out and bake on ungreased cookie sheets for 10-12 minutes at 375. Let cool for a couple minutes on the cookie sheets before removing to cooling racks.
Makes about 56 3-inch cookies.
Strawberry Icing
- 3 tablespoons strawberry puree
- 3/4 cups powdered sugar (4 ounces)
Sift powdered sugar into strawberry puree and whisk until smooth. You should have a thick, mostly opaque glaze. If it seems too thin, add more powdered sugar.
To assemble:
Once cookies have completely cooled, spoon a small amount of glaze onto each cookie and spread into a v. Let sit until the glaze has hardened, about 2 hours. (The glaze won’t completely harden, but it will dry out enough for you to wrap up cute and give to your sweetheart.)
