Sunday, June 12, 2011

Pho-k You! (Not really, I Love You!)

Having lived in Florida from 2006 - 2010, I was used to seeing signs for Cuban sandwiches, authentic Mexican cuisine, and other hispanic goodies. When I moved to Seattle, I was suddenly overwhelmed with restaurants screaming

PHO! GET YOUR SAIGON PHO! AUTHENTIC PHO! VEGETARIAN-FRIENDLY PHO!

So here I am, my tan just starting to fade and my flip flops gathering dust by the doorstep, when I realize that A) It's getting cold as hell here in Seattle, and B) I do not have any good burrito places to keep my Florida ass warm.

So I decide to try this pho stuff.

For all you people who are not from the West Coast and/or don't know Vietnamese food overly well, pho is pronounced like 'FUH' and it's delicious and eerily addictive. It's basically just an Asian noodle soup with an asston of sprouts on top and a strong bite of cilantro. I easily spent about 20 bucks a week on this shit when I first discovered it. That was one very bad month financially, I'll tell you.

So while I was flipping through Vegan On The Cheap, I saw this recipe called Asian Noodle Soup. I was like 'wuhhhhhh' and then I was like 'WOAH DUDE' and then I was like 'NOM NOM NOM.'

The description said it was based on pho. So I flipped out and fuckin' bought the ingredients for this shit immediately.


Asian Noodle Soup Pg 70

So here's how this goes down.


The recipe asks you to cook some linguine or rice noodles, then drain them when you are done and save them for later. In my world, when you make soup, you just cook the noodles in the broth. So I skipped this step and made the broth.

The recipe calls for vegetable broth. I have this cool vegan chicken broth stuff that I use for all my soups because it's just delicious (and tastes like legitimate chicken broth so it's easy to fool nonvegans). So I made some broth.

How pretty!

Also, I'd like to point out that this recipe asked me to make seitan instead of tofu. I think that since tofu is cheap, and I like it, I didn't see any problem with this substitution.

So the next part tells me to cook up some onions, fresh ginger, and fresh garlic. So I chopped some up and threw it in a pan.


The recipe also calls for a 'neutral vegetable oil' but since this is an Asian recipe, and I have a large amount of sesame oil, I cooked the onions/ginger/garlic in sesame oil instead. Robin Robertson can kiss my ass if she finds this unacceptable.


Then you're supposed to mix the hoisin sauce and soy sauce in with the cooked veggies, then add that shit to the broth. So I did.

After that, you will want to put whatever form of protein you chose into the broth along with the cooked veggie mixture. DO IT.

So I cut up the tofu.



Exciting, no?

Then I threw all that shit into my delightful pot of broth, along with my uncooked rice noodles! I also was ordered by the recipe book to put some rice vinegar and asian chili sauce into the mix, so I FREAKING DID. YOU SHOULD, TOO.





The most exciting part is coming up!

PREPARE THE FANCY GARNISH!

Cut up the green onions!

On top of your soup will also be fresh sprouts and fresh cilantro.

I love to smell cilantro. I wish I could tape some fresh cilantro to my face all day long so all I was breathing was cilantro fumes.

On a side note, aren't ginger roots cool? Don't they look like tree trunks?


And what if....what IF....

WE PUT CILANTRO ON TOP OF IT TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A TREE?!

Ok. Sorry.

And now we're back.

NOW WHEN YOUR RICE NOODLES OR WHATEVER THE FUCK NOODLES YOU CHOSE ARE DONE COOKING, PLEASE PUT SOME SOUP INTO A BOWL THEN TOP IT WITH CILANTRO/SPROUTS/ONIONS AND EAT IT



DELIGHTFUL?!




I THINK SO, BITCHES.

RATINGS:

Ease of preparation: 4/5
Lots of chopping and stuff, but it all ends up in the same damn pot so it's not terribly noticeable if you fuck one thing up.

Deliciousness: 5/5
IT TASTES LIKE PHO-CKING PHO, BITCHES. WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED.

Prettiness: 5/5
PHO IS THE MOST AESTHETICALLY PLEASING THING EVER (NO I'M NOT BIASED, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!)

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Starbucks Vegan Options

I know this isn't a cooking post, but I'm gonna post it anyways.

I get a lot of people (customers, friends) asking me what Starbucks foods / drinks are vegan-friendly. I decided to make a post about it while I was at, none other than, my favorite Starbucks!

My breakfast of choice: a chai tea (not the latte, the tea) with a couple splendas and some coconut milk I brought in myself because I'm such a picky bitch (it's in the purple/orange tumbler). I also had a toasted plain bagel, which I promptly ate and is not in this picture....:-]

Ok, so anyways.

The basics

Black coffee and teas are vegan friendly, of course. French-press it, get it off the Clover, drink it iced, drink a VIA packet, have it as a pour-over - it's all good for us and the animals. The iced teas and tea lemonades are vegan, too, of course!

Some lattes can be made to be vegan if you substitute soymilk for the normal 2% milk. Here is the list of vegan-friendly soy lattes:

Lattes

Vanilla Soy Latte
Toffee Nut Soy Latte
Hazelnut Soy Latte
Cinnamon Dolce Soy Latte (However, make sure you request no cinnamon topping; the topping is made with BUTTER. Weird!)
Caramel Soy Latte (Only caramel SYRUP, the caramel SAUCE/DRIZZLE is not vegan.)
Coconut Soy Latte
Peppermint Soy Latte
Raspberry Soy Latte
Classic Soy Latte
(No, the Pumpkin Spice Latte is not vegan. Sorry!)

Side Note: Because the Caramel Macchiato is made with the caramel drizzle, it's NOT vegan. 

Specialty Drinks

Soy No Whip Mocha (Yes, mocha is vegan! Surprise!)
Soy Earl Grey Tea Latte
Soy Awake Tea Latte
Soy Vanilla Rooibos Tea Latte
Soy Green Tea Latte
Soy Hot Chocolate
Vanilla Steamers (Also any vegan-friendly syrup steamer)


Blended Stuff

Some frappuccinos, if made with soy and no whipped cream can be vegan. These include:

Mocha frappuccino
Caramel Frappuccino (no caramel drizzle!)
Vanilla Bean Frappuccino
Cafe Vanilla Frappuccino
Coffee Frappuccino
Coconut Cream Frappuccino
Mocha Coconut Frappuccino
Green Tea Frappuccino

The java chips aren't vegan, so java chip fraps and double chocolatey chip fraps are off-limits. :-[ Sad!

Also, apparently there's this whole ordeal where the strawberry puree has beetle juice in it. So...don't eat that shit. Even if you're NOT vegan, you really don't want to be eating beetle juice, do you?

Vivanno Smoothies can be made vegan, too! Just request it made with soy and no protein powder - the powder is whey, so it's dairy-based!


Stuff on the iffy side

Soy Chai Latte
If you are one of those vegans who doesn't think there's anything wrong with eating honey, you can have your soy chai latte guilt-free!

Sugar-free Soy Lattes
Some vegans don't eat splenda because it's tested on animals. If you don't mind so much, sugar-free soy lattes are a-ok.

Coffee Frappuccino Light
Again, the splenda situation. You decide.

Food

Right now, the only vegan options Starbucks has are these:


Plain Bagel
Multigrain Bagel
Fruit Cup
Sesame Noodle Bistro Box
Bananas
2 Moms in the Raw Granola Bars
Nut packets
Kind Bars
The little packets of fruit chew / twist things
Dried Fruit

Anyways. That's my comprehensive list of vegan Starbucks situations. Enjoy!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Damn Hippies

Here's a typical "Hi, I'm a pretentious hippie and I want to feed you things that will keep you alive for a millenium and also taste fucking delicious" recipe.

It has quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) and spelt and dried cranberries and olive oil and curry powder and brazil nuts and other things.

Its basically a health food freak's dream salad. So where did I find it?

The Cafe Flora Cookbook, of course!



Curried Whole Grain Salad Pg 102

I have SO. MUCH. QUINOA. Why? Because every time I go grocery shopping, I decide to buy some, in hopes that I'll start eating it on a regular basis.

"What the hell's so great about quinoa?" all the non-hippies ask. Here's a bulleted list of it's greatness:

  • It's gluten-free.
  • It has an assload of vitamins and minerals, including calcium, fiber, b-vitamins, riboflavin, manganese, and all sorts of other shit.
  • It has a 12 - 18 % protein content! Yay!
  • It has all 9 essential amino acids.
Now that you know why everyone flips out about it, here's how you cook it.

You know how you cook rice?

Yeah. Cook this stuff EXACTLY like rice.

2:1 ratio of water to quinoa. Boil the water, then put the quinoa in, lower heat to a simmer, cover it, and wait about 15 minutes. Then eat it.

Done.

So for this recipe, you need to soak a cup of spelt or wheat berries (I chose spelt) for 8 hours beforehand.


8 hours later, please cook your quinoa (1/2 cup worth).

This is dry quinoa!


This is cooked quinoa! Notice the cute little swirly things! <3


After all this, you will cook your soaked spelt.


MIX 'EM TOGETHER....



THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE ^^^^

Then, you'll make your dijon curry vinagrette. You basically mix these ingredients:


I can't remember the exact proportions, but this sauce includes agave nectar, olive oil, pepper, salt, dijon mustard, curry powder, and a little lemon juice.

Then chop up some nuts (I chose brazil nuts)


Then some cranberrries (dried)


Then mix it all together....




And feast like a true hippie! YEAH!

RATINGS:

Ease of preparation: 4/5
Simple instructions, mildly time-consuming. Especially with the presoaking.

Deliciousness: 4/5
Bright tastes, nutty, delicious texture. A little heavy, though, for a "salad" type dish.

Prettiness: 5/5
Bright colors and fancy looking grains! Sure to impress non-vegans with it's trendy little weirdness.