To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.
Click the image below to watch the video.
St. Germain Gin Fizz Cocktail
Makes one real cocktail or two minis
INGREDIENTS
2 oz gin
1 oz St. Germain
1 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 oz club soda
1/2 oz simple syrup
Garnish options: sliced cucumber, mint sprigs, cracked pepper
DIRECTIONS
Shake the gin, St. Germain, lemon juice & simple syrup in ice for 30 seconds. Pour into glasses filled with ice & cucumber slices. Top with club soda & garnish with cucumber & mint.
To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.
The video for the stovetop version is here. The slow cooker one is far below. Click the image below to watch the stovetop recipe.
Vegan Pulled Pork Jackfruit in a Sriracha and Blackberry Jam BBQ Sauce (Stovetop)
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
Drizzle of olive oil
1 (20 oz) can of young jackfruit – drained & shredded by hand
1-2 garlic cloves – chopped
2 tsp cider vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
A few dashes of soy sauce or tamari
1/3 cup ketchup
1 TBS blackberry (or other dark berry) jam or preserves or chutney
1 TBS Sriracha
1 tsp molasses
A few dashes vegan Worcestershire sauce (optional)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
DIRECTIONS
Heat a little bit of oil in a pan. Add the shredded jackfruit & the remaining ingredients & combine. Heat through & serve as you desire.
That above is jackfruit. It is a staple in Southeast Asian diets. It is a giant fruit that grows to 100 pounds. If you want to read more about it – I went into some detail in my Vegan Jackfruit Spicy Szechuan Dan Dan Noodles post. Those are the noodles – below.
I bought this jackfruit in cans for $1.39 at my favorite Thai market – Bangluck – but I hear most Asian markets carry it. Just be sure to buy UNRIPE or young jackfruit in water or brine. Ripe jackfruit in syrup – it seems – tastes like Juicy Fruit gum & would be awful in this dish.
I made this in the slow cooker using a combination of jackfruit & Beyond Meat vegan chicken strips.
Both the jackfruit (above) & chicken will require that you shred it using two forks to achieve the pulled chicken visual. It is easy once they are warmed & soft. Just fish them out of the BBQ sauce & shred them on a cutting board.
To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.
Click the image below to watch the video & please subscribe to my channel.
Vegan Cold Soba Noodle Salad with Brown Sugar Tofu & Chili Oil
Serves 2 very well
INGREDIENTS
for the chili oil
1/2 cup oil
3 star anise pods
1-2 TBS chopped fresh ginger
2 TBS crushed red pepper
2-4 garlic cloves – minced
3 scallions – chopped
for the dressing
2 TBS sesame oil
2 TBS rice vinegar
2 TBS low sodium soy sauce or liquid aminos or tamari
2 TBS brown sugar
for the soba salad
7 oz soba noodles – cooked & drained
1/2 – 1 pound tofu (I used pressed tofu)
2 TBS brown sugar
1/2 tsp S&P
1 TBS sesame oil
Mixed chopped vegetables. I used:
1/2 cucumber
4 radishes
1/4 red bell pepper
1 cup purple cabbage
2 scallions
(you could use edamame, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, snow peas, green beans or whatever you like)
Cilantro
Sesame seeds
Lime wedges
DIRECTIONS
Cook the noodles & set aside.
Whisk the dressing together & set aside.
Heat the oil for the chili oil in a pan. Add the star anise & crushed red pepper. Add the ginger & scallions. When the scallions are soft & just starting to brown – add the garlic & heat for one minute. Put the oil in a storage container to cool. You won’t need all the oil for this recipe & the leftover should keep in the fridge for several days.
Heat 1 TBS sesame oil. Add the brown sugar & salt & pepper. Add the tofu & heat until the sugar caramelizes onto the tofu. Set aside.
In a bowl – toss the noodles with the tofu & veggies. Add some dressing (not all of it) and a drizzle of the chili oil. Start very light with both the dressing & the chili oil & add more to taste.
Garnish with sesame seeds and cilantro & serve with lime wedges.
To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.
Click the image below to watch the video.
When I went to Dallas in 2015 to MC an event for the Humane League there – everyone kept talking about how awesome these vegan fish sticks are. So – I bought some as soon as I got home. My first effort with them was these vegan fish tacos.
They were delicious! The fish sticks are triangle-shaped and almost as large as the palm of my hand – and they have 90 calories each. I am a huge fan.
So – I got it in my head that I wanted sushi. My first thought was to make tempura chicken with Beyond Meat chicken & tempura batter but I discovered that I had no tempura batter & then I decided I didn’t want to fry anything, anyway. Then these guys jumped into my mind! So – while these are not fish & not in tempura batter – they are breaded & they made an excellent substitute.
I buy my nori at Bangluch Market because it costs about $1.25 for a package where Gelson’s charges almost $5 – so I recommend looking in ethnic stores for ethnic supplies. I bought the fresh ginger & wasabi at Gelson’s.
Sushi Rice
2 cups sushi rice
2 cups water
2 TBS sugar
2 TBS rice vinegar
1 TBS salt
Put the rice & water in a pan. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low & cover. Cook for 25 minutes.
Let the rice cool & then mix in the other ingredients.
Vegan “Fish Tempura” Sushi Rolls
INGREDIENTS
Gardein fishless fillets (or other brand) – cooked according to package instructions
Carrots – cut into sticks
Daikon – cut into sticks
Cucumber – cut into sticks (I forgot to use mine)
Avocado – sliced
Nori sheets
Sesame seeds – white & black
Wasabi, ginger & soy sauce for dipping.
DIRECTIONS
Get all your ingredients ready. Press some rice onto the nori – leaving about an inch on one end uncovered. Layer the ingredients & roll tightly. Wet the naked end of the nori with water on your fingertips. roll until the seam side is down & rub the roll back & forth on the counter a few times to better seal the seam. Cut with a sharp wet knife.
Serve with ginger & wasabi & soy sauce & a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.
All my posts now have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option. Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out. It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing. The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.
Click the image below to watch the video.
Fresh Pineapple Mojito Cocktail
2 cocktails
INGREDIENTS
1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
10-20 mint leaves
4 oz white rum
juice of 1/2 – 1 lime
Splash club soda
1 TBS sugar or simple syrup (optional)
Dragonfruit ice cubes (optional)
Ice
Garnish – maraschino cherries, pineapple wedges & mint sprigs
DIRECTIONS
Muddle the pineapple & mint in a cocktail shaker.
Add rum & lime juice and sugar (if using) & shake will. Pour into ice-filled glasses (regular ice or dragonfruit ice cubes) and top with club soda. Garnish as desired & serve.
To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.
All my posts now have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option. Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out. It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing. The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.
Click the image below to watch the video.
Vegan Vietnamese Fresh Salad Rolls
Ingredients:
1 package clear edible rice spring roll sheets (Here on Amazon)
FILLING OPTIONS:
1 package vermicelli rice noodles, prepared according to package directions
Tofu or other protein
Basil – fresh (Thai sweet or hot basil is nice, too, if you can find it)
Mint – fresh
Cilantro – fresh
Butter lettuce, washed and separated into leaves – ribs removed
Carrots, peeled & cut into very thin matchsticks
Cucumber, peeled and cut into very thin strips
Avocado
Purple cabbage
Bell pepper strips
Asparagus
Mango
Papaya
Sprouts
Micro greens
Be sure you have the type of wrappers pictured below (or another brand) and not egg roll or wonton wrappers. Those are an entirely different breed & need cooking.
Directions:
Prepare the noodles & vegetables in advance – being sure they are washed & dried. Have a large bowl of warm water ready for dipping the spring roll wrappers.
1 Dip a sheet of spring roll wrapper into water very quickly, no longer than a second or two (or they will get too soggy) and lay flat on a work surface.
2 On one edge, lay a small handful of noodles, some basil & mint leaves, some pressed tofu, some cucumber & carrot strips, purple cabbage, avocado & some micro greens (or whatever fillings you are using) – being careful not to overstuff the wrapper.
3 Roll up burrito style, tucking in the sides, then continue to roll up-but not too tightly or the spring roll wrapper will tear.
You will, no doubt, need a few attempts to get one right. Be patient – it gets easier. Be prepared to throw a bunch away or to settle for some funky shaped rolls! They should be served fairly quickly after preparing them. Too much time in the fridge after assembly will dry them out. These can be filled with nearly anything so feel free to get creative!
I have always wanted to try my hand at making pickles. Sometimes I see pickling cucumbers, buy them & then watch them rot as I keep forgetting to buy mason jars. Or – I Google recipes & get intimidated by the canning procedure. Or both. I recently saw these cutie little cocktail cucumbers at Costco & couldn’t resist the urge – again – to attempt making pickles. I had no idea if they would lend themselves well to the process but the money investment was small so I went for it. I then Googled a bunch of different recipes & by tweaking a few – I came up with this RIDICULOUSLY easy pickle recipe. I had two old pickle jars in my cabinet & I used them – not mason jars. These took 24 hours in the fridge – just sitting there – and they were pickles! Really tasty, crunchy pickles!!!!! I recommend this recipe VERY highly – both or its ease & for the novelty of making your own Goddamn pickles overnight. I suspect any cucumbers would work. These guys (cocktail cucumbers) were pretty small & quartered into very slim little spears. If you use full-sized cucumbers – maybe slice them into discs rather than spears. And any old seal-able jar will work. And by seal-able – I really just mean with a screw top. The fact – you could make these in ANY container – Tupperware – even a bowl. So – go get some cucumbers and give this one a go!
1.5 lbs cucumbers (I used cocktail cucumbers – but you can try any variety you find available) – cut into spears or 1/4″ chips.
8 garlic cloves – 4 quartered, 4 left whole (less if you do not LOVE garlic)
8-16 sprigs fresh dill
2 TBS coriander SEEDS (not ground)
2 TBS sea (or Kosher) salt
2 TBS sugar
1 1/3 cups white vinegar
water
Jars for containing the pickles
DIRECTIONS
NOTE – these are very garlicky!!! If you don’t LOVE garlic – cut the garlic back a lot.
In a sauce pan – heat the vinegar & add the salt, sugar & coriander seeds. Heat, stirring, just until both the sugar & salt dissolve. Try to get this done before the vinegar gets hot. If it gets very hot – let it cool before pouring over your cucumbers.
Put your cucumbers in the pickling container (a mason jar, old pickle jar – or other container with a water-tight lid) – with the garlic & the fresh dill. Pour the vinegar mix over the cucumbers. Add water to fill the container to the top. Seal the container & chill in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Try one. ENJOY!
These should last in your fridge (in a sealed container) for up to one month.
Delightful-Delicious-Delovely 