DDD #41 – Vegan Vietnamese Fresh Salad Rolls with Homemade Peanut Dipping Sauce

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2017

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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!

You can BUY a spicy peanut sauce in a jar or can at most Asian markets or online (for example – http://www.lynmarket.com/proddetail.asp?prod=011152198903).  They are usually quite good, but, if you are feeling motivated –

Peanut Sauce Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup of peanut butter – smooth or chunky
• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 1 TBS low sodium soy sauce
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 1/4 cup of water
• cilantro, crushed nuts or a swirl of sriracha for garnish

Directions

1. Combine
2. Garnish with a squeeze of sriracha or nuts or cilantro

Of not in the mood to make sauce – many options are available at the store.

Easy Vegan Thai Minced Pork with Holy (& Sweet) Basil – Pad Ga Prao Muu – in Lettuce Cups

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2016

Follow @celisemccarthy

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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 just 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.

I live very close to the area in LA called Thai Town (Hollywood Blvd – essentially – east of Western).  It is an incredible resource for Thai & other Asian ingredients – like canned jackfruit, every manner of noodle & rice & some exotic spices.  The other day, at my favorite Thai market, Bangluck, I spotted these guys here:

Vegetarian pork, duck & generic meat – in cans – for just over a dollar each.  The photos are not so appetizing but I could not resist trying them.  For whatever reason – I got two cans of the pork & decided to try them out today in this Thai dish.  Apparently, authentic Pad Ga Prao Muu uses only the Thai Holy (or hot) basil but I dd not have enough of that so I added some sweet Thai basil.  Here is how they look (holy/hot basil on top & Thai/sweet basil below with the purple flowers:

The holy basil has serrated edges & the sweet basil does not.  They really do smell & taste very different but, I think, only a true aficionado of Thai food would know or care about the difference.  I used both & I was very pleased with the result.

Even more exciting – the canned pork!  Seitan, really.  Here are the details:

Drained, it did not smell or taste funky.  AT ALL.  And even kinda looks like pork.  Any seitan would work for this recipe – stuff from your health food store or Whole Foods or homemade.  I posted some recipes with a recipe for seitan HERE.  The advantage o this canned stuff is shelf-life and COST!  It is so cheap & easy!  If you don’t have Asian grocers near you, the canned stuff is available online HERE.  I will report on the other two cans of stuff when I think of what to do with them.

As to this dish – crazy easy & outrageously delicious.  I like my food genuinely spicy so – if you do not – be sure to adjust the hot elements to suit your taste.

The seitan pork, though?  Totally convincing!  I think you could serve this dish to a meat eater & they would not question it.  You might want to call it chicken, if you have a real skeptic on your hands, because pork tends to be chewier than chicken but – whatever you decide – this will look like meat & taste like meat.  This recipe is killer!  And once your ingredients are prepped – it takes about 10 minutes.  EASY!

Easy Vegan Thai Minced Pork with Holy (& Sweet) Basil – Pad Ga Prao Muu – in Lettuce Cups

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

20 oz (or so) seitan (or enough for 2 portions)

2 TBS coconut or olive oil

2 packed cups fresh Holy/hot and/or Thai/sweet basil

1-10 cloves garlic – chopped

2 shallots (or one small onion) – diced

4 red scallions (OPTIONAL!  I only used these because I had them) – sliced (bottoms only)

1 red bell pepper – seeded & sliced

1 cup carrots – matchsticks or sliced

1-10 red/green Thai chilies – split (I used 10 & this was very spicy)

1 serrano chili – diced (very optional)

2-3 TBS vegetarian oyster or mushroom sauce

3 TBS liquid aminos or low sodium soy sauce or tamari

1 tsp dark soy sauce (optional)

1 tsp sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) OR 2 tsp brown sugar

Lettuce leaves for cups (I used romaine but butter lettuce is nice, too)

GARNISH – lime wedges, cooked rice

DIRECTIONS

Prep everything because this comes together fast.  Whisk the liquid ingredients (oyster sauce, soy sauces) together.

Heat the oil in a large pan.  Add the shallots, chilies, scallions (if using), red bell, and carrots.  Saute until the peppers & carrots soften (maybe 5 minutes).

Add the seitan & heat through.  Add the garlic & saute one minute.  Add the liquids & combine.  Stir in the basil & once it wilts – you are ready to serve.

Serve in lettuce cups or with rice & garnish with lime wedges.

Vegan Spicy Thai Chicken Lettuce Cups (Larb Gai – Laab Gai)

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2015

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To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

OK – now we are talking!  These are clean & light & perfectly suited to hot weather – both in the ease of preparation & the lack of anything too rich, dense or filling.  Another nice thing is that these guys come together in less than 20 minutes.  I think lemongrass is a traditional ingredient but I left it out – mainly because I know most people don’t have ready access to it.

As always, I used Beyond Meat’s chicken because it is, in my opinion, the best vegan chicken on the market.  If you click that link – you can find a store locator & maybe even a coupon!  I also used jarred ginger & garlic but fresh would, clearly, be even better.

You can make this as spicy (or not) as you like.  I tend to go heavy on spice so keep that in mind if heat is not your bag.  For my money – the most critical detail in this recipe is the mint – but basil will do in a pinch.

Vegan Spicy Thai Chicken Lettuce Cups (Larb Gai – Laab Gai)

Feeds 2

INGREDIENTS

Enough large lettuce leaves to make 6-8 individual cups/wraps

9 oz vegan chicken – thawed

1 TBS olive oil

1 jalapeno – seeded & minced

1/2 red bell pepper – slivered

1/2 red onion – diced

1 TBS ginger

1 TBS garlic

4+ TBS soy sauce or tamari

2 TBS brown sugar

1-3 TBS sriracha (according to your taste for heat)

1 TBS peanut butter (optional)

Cilantro

Fresh mint (or basil) – but really try it with mint – the mint is SO GOOD!

Lime wedges

GARNISHES (use as many or as few as you like)

Carrot – cut into matchsticks

Cucumber – cut into matchsticks

Red cabbage – slivered

Chopped peanuts

Scallions

Avocado (I show avocado in these photos but I did not add it to the wraps – though you might like to)

DIRECTIONS

Set two plates with the lettuce cups on them.

In a food processor, pulse the chicken together with the jalapeno, half the onion & half the red bell pepper until it looks like pulled chicken or ground chicken (depending on the brand you are using) – or chop it all very fine, by hand)

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan & cook the remaining red onion & bell pepper for a few minutes.  Add the garlic, ginger, brown sugar, soy sauce, peanut butter & sriracha & blend until the sugar dissolves.  Add the chicken & heat through.  Tweak the seasonings & divide the chicken between the lettuce cups.  Top with cilantro and MINT (!) & serve with lime wedges & any other garnishes you opted to use.

Serve!

Cool Vegan Cashew & Cranberry Chicken Salad Tacos with Avocado

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

Follow @celisemccarthy

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To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

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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.

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OK – I am not sure what the weather is like where you are but here in LA – it is hot as a muthafuckah!   It is pushing 100 degrees!  Just brutal.  I don’t have AC & cooking is just impossible in this weather.  So – I whipped up these cool & vegan bad boys!  They are kind of like a taco-wrap hybrid.  I used these little flour tortillas – right from their home in the cool of my fridge.  I am not positive they are vegan – so if you are vegan – use a tortilla you know suits your diet.

And I used that Beyond Meat vegan chicken.  The coupon above is good until the end of May 2014 – so print a few out & go get some of this awesome stuff!  If you let it sit on the counter a few minutes – it will defrost enough so that you can cube it up & by the time this all comes together – the chicken is thawed completely but still CHILLED!  Perfect!

Cool Vegan Cashew & Cranberry Chicken Salad Tacos with Avocado

Feeds two very well

INGREDIENTS

1 9 oz package of faux chicken – thawed

1 avocado – peeled & seeded & cubed

Fresh lime juice

1/3 cup vegan mayo

1/4 cup (or more) cashews

2 celery stalks – diced

1/2 small cucumber – diced

2 mini sweet peppers (or half a bell pepper) – seeded & diced

1/4 cup purple cabbage – chopped

1/4 cup cilantro – chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries (or raisins or other dried fruit)

1/2 tsp cumin

Pinch of salt

Pepper to taste

Flour tortillas or other wrap (even lettuce)

DIRECTIONS

Prep the avocado & squeeze lime juice all over it.

Now – just mix everything up in a big bowl.  Season to taste.  Eat with lettuce cups or as wraps or as little flour tortilla tacos.

Vegan Chicken Salad Wraps

 

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

Follow @celisemccarthy

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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.

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Yeah, kids!  That’s my book!  Read the REVIEWS!  Pretty flattering!  Why not read it yourself?

And now – more amazing vegan fare!  I was never a big fan of real chicken salad but man – I loved this stuff!  Honestly – try it on a friend without telling them it is vegan.  I bet they never notice!  Easy, clean & cool.  Good for on top of a salad or wrapped in a tortilla or some butter lettuce.  Yummy & guiltless – and cruelty-free!   And know – almost all animal products involve suffering for some animal.  Even the cheeses & butter I use.  Hence my tapering off them.  And if you want to see some cows, literally jumping for joy – watch this video!  Then print the coupon I shared below – multiple times – and fleece your local for a free package every time you shop there.  I do!

 

 

VEGAN CHICKEN SALAD

Serves 2 in wraps

INGREDIENTS

9 oz vegan chicken

2 celery stalks – diced small

1/4 red bell pepper – diced small

1/8 red onion – diced small

1/4 cup vegan mayo

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp Stone Ground mustard (or 2 tsp of whatever nice mustard you have)

Parsley – minced

S&P

Lettuce

Tortillas

DIRECTIONS

I didn’t even let the frozen chicken thaw.  I just cut it into cubes and, by the time everything else came together, it was perfectly thawed.

Cube the chicken & prepare the other veggies.

Mix all the ingredients up.

S&P to taste.  And that is it, kiddies!  Now – either eat it from the bowl or wrapped in lettuce or a tortilla or other wrapping device.  Then, shove this badass shit in your face & head out onto the town looking for chickens you can stare down with your guilt-free conscience & your chicken-free breath.  Then go home & love yourself a little.  Even in a dirty way – if the mood strikes you.  You’ve earned it!