Catching up: Lemony Asparagus Pasta

Sorry for the lack of posts. It's been busy since getting back from Michigan's lovely U.P. I made this recipe a few days ago and am finally getting around to posting it.

Very easy and quick recipe. I chose this one in particular because my folks gave me and my sister A LOT of fresh asparagus that they got recently from a local farm. I hate wasting food, so I knew I needed a recipe where asparagus was the focal point, and this one was the winner because it seemed uber easy... and it was! The recipe called for whole wheat Penne pasta, but I used whole wheat Rotini because it was what I had on hand.

Five stars for ease of preparation, but I dunno... seemed like it was missing something to me. If I make this again, I may add in other fresh veggies, too, for variety. Really mix it up!

Veggie Patty @ Subway

I didn’t realize the Subway restaurant chain offered a hot sandwich option for vegetarians until yesterday, when the lady diligently adding onions, tomatos, peppers and condiments to my cold Veggie Delite pointed it out to me. “I’m not vegetarian, but I think they’re pretty good,” she said, gesturing to the oblong veggie burgers sitting there under the glass, next to all the cold cuts. My interest was definitely piqued.

Subway is often my fast food of choice, especially since one of them opened within walking distance of my office. However, sometimes, I’m just not in the mood for a cold sandwich. Some days, I like it hot! Eating Subway two days in a row wasn’t ideal, but I couldn’t resist going back for another round today, specifically to try the veggie patty.

My understanding is that the veggie patties are not available at all locations. The store I patronize, where the patties are listed under the “local favorites” menu, just recently started carrying them, according to the lady behind the counter, who didn’t know the ingredients of the patty. Therefore, I used the customer service form at Subway’s Web site to inquire about the nutritional/ingredient information. I received a reply from a customer care representative named Peggy within a matter of hours, detailing ingredients and nutritional info on the chain’s Gardenburger and VegiMax menu items.

Gardenburger ingredients: Mushrooms, brown rice, onions, rolled oats, part-skim mozzarella, cottagecheese curd, egg white, cheddar cheese, bulgar wheat, natural seasonings and spices, autolyzed yeast, sea salt, olive oil, tapioca starch, and vegetable gum.

Gardenburger nutritional information: Calories 390, Protein (g) 19, Carbohydrates (g) 66, Sugar 6, Fat (g) 7, Sat. Fat (g) 2.5, Cholesterol (mg) 5, Sodium (mg) 960, Dietary Fiber (g) 9.

VegiMax ingredients: Vegetables (mushroom, water chestnuts, onions, carrots, green and red bell peppers, black olives), textured vegetable protein (soy protein consentrate, wheat gluten), egg whites, cooked brown rice, rolled oats, corn oil, calcium caseinate, soy sauce (water, soybeans, salt,wheat) Contains 2% or less of the following: onion powder, cornstarch, salt, hydrolyzed corn, soy and wheat protein, sucrose, soy protein isolate, spices, garlic powder, dextrose, jalapeno pepper powder, celery extract.

VegiMax nutritional information: Calories 390, Protein (g) 24, Carbohydrates (g) 56, Sugar 7, Fat (g) 8, Sat. Fat (g) 1.5, Cholesterol (mg) 10, Sodium (mg) 1030, Dietary Fiber (g) 7.

Additional notes provided by the rep: The above values include wheat or white bread, a 3.0 oz patty, and all the standard vegetables. Cheese or other condiments are not included. The above information is for a 6 inch sub which is a local product. However, the nutrient value may vary depending on the store’s manufacturer.

I haven’t made an additional inquiry yet about the natural seasonings listed in the e-mail, but those who wish to may want to try this form, which is what I used to ask about ingredients.

Overall, I thought the Subway veggie patty was pretty good… but no different in taste than any other veggie patty, really. It’ll cost you more than the Veggie Delite–$1.20 more at my local store. But, I do give Subway some credit for adding another menu option for vegetarians. Even if it is just a standard veggie burger, aside from the funny oblong shape to fit on the 6-inch subs. I hope the veggie patties grow in popularity and become a regular menu item at the chain nationwide.

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NOTE: Last week, I was away on vacation in Michigan’s upper peninsula, which is beautiful overall, but not that big on veggies. I took notes and plan to share my experiences as a vegetarian traveling through meat-loving Yooperville in a future blog post. Look for it soon!

Simply Asia, simply OK

OK, so I didn't actually cook this, but since it's vegetarian food and I ate it for lunch today, I figured I could talk about it here. :) I like eating in for lunch at work. It saves me money and I think I eat healthier, too, because of it. I prefer to keep a few 'stock' items in my desk drawer at work, in case I'm rushed in the morning and can't prepare a lunch. Items from the Thai Kitchen work well cuz they are pretty cheap, easy to prepare and heat up in no time. In the past, I've purchased the Thai Peanut rice noodle dish. And, those are ok but they don't really fill me up. :( So, I thought I'd give the Simply Asia bowls a try since they were labled vegan.

I thought the more robust noodles filled me up a bit better than the original Thai Kitchen dishes. And the sauce for the sesame teriyaki was good. Overall I felt it was skimpy on the vegetables though, and a thumbs down for the bowl not being recycleable in my area.

I would buy this again, but probably not that often. I like to save dishes like this only for times when I'm in a pinch.

NOTE: I'll be on the road traveling this coming week, so no blog posts about my homemade meals until at least May 15. I will, however, be taking notes about some of the food I eat on the road and report back to my blog readers regarding the challenges of eating vegetarian while traveling. Have a good week!

General Tao's Tofu

This recipe appears to be famous on vegweb.com. It sits at the top of the list of the site's most-viewed recipes--and--it also has the most reviews with a whopping 157... all raving about how awesome and delicious this dish was. Therefore, I couldn't wait to try it!

Before I go any further, this recipe did not disappoint. It is indeed awesome!

I must say, it took me way longer than the stated 30 min. prep time. It could be cuz this was my first time manuvering through the recipe, but it still takes more time than I usually put into a weeknight meal. LOL But I made it special cuz Monday nights are dinner with my BF, so I always try to impress him with my veggie cooking skills! ;)

When I make this again, I plan to pre-mix the sauce ingredients (sans water and cornstarch) prior to beginning the tofu. Thankfully, my BF didn't mind watching the tofu cook while I chopped and readied the sauce ingredients. Next time, the sauce ingredients are being made first, which will make it easier to just add the water/cornstarch in and heat it all up as the tofu is looking ready. This sauce WILL thicken, so be sure to cook it long enough so that it does thicken. And, definitely double-up on the sauce as recommended by the reviews on vegweb. You'll want plenty of this yummy sauce for this dish! So double the sauce recipe!

I also followed the recipe's advice and froze my chopped tofu the night before and let it defrost in the fridge while I was at work today. Coating the tofu in the egg-replacer/cornstarch took some time, but I was trying to make it look all pretty. Next time I'll probably speed this up by rolling several pieces of tofu in the cornstarch at the same time. I also plan to cook the tofu longer... we fried it till golden, but just golden. I think we could've fried it more till it browned a bit. We also made the mistake of adding the tofu into the sauce too soon--before the sauce thickened. While it all still tasted yummy, the tofu 'crust' did seem to soften up in the sauce, so next time the tofu won't be added to the sauce until just before serving.

I served it over jasmine rice with broccoli and red peppers.

Other than that, this recipe is AWESOME. I don't know if I've ever had Chinese food that has tasted this good. Seriously. I really haven't eaten much Chinese food since going veg. Prior to becoming veg*n, I mainly ate almond chicken when we ordered Chinese. Once I went veg, I think we dined out at a Chinese restaurant one time and I ordered some kind of noodle thing which I didn't care for. Oh, and my veg*n friend and I tried this one Chinese place that served meatless chinese dishes (think meatless sweet and sour "chicken") but I believe that restaurant may have closed. This recipe is definitely a keeper, tho. Well worth the effort!

Oh.... and did I mention this recipe was vegan? Absolutely no animal ingredients whatsoever! :-D

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

My folks came over to visit Saturday, and my mom brought me some fresh sweet potatoes. Yum! On Sunday for lunch, I washed, chopped and then boiled them for about 20 minutes. I added a bit of olive oil in lieu of butter and then mashed away and voila! Fresh mashed sweet potatoes! Mmmm, mmmmm. I sprinkled a bit of nutritional yeast on top and it was deelish! :)

A place where veg*n food is always 'Inn Season'

One of my favorite, exclusively veg*n restaurants in southeast Michigan is Inn Season Cafe in Royal Oak, Mich. There’s nothing particularly “wowing” about it, but I think that’s why I like it. The restaurant is small and quaint. The decor is modest yet comfy-feeling. And the food is a veg*n’s delight! All items on the menu are considered vegetarian, which does include dairy. But, vegans never fear! Inn Season Cafe clearly marks which items are completely sans animal products with an asterick, making the dishes easily recognizable while perusing the menu.

This past weekend, I opted to try the vegan-marked Cashew Ginger Stir-Fry. This dish was chock FULL of a variety of tasty veggies, served over brown rice. Broccoli, cabbage, carrots, onions, snap peas, cauliflower, cashews… I know I’m forgetting some of the veggies! The bowl was HUGE. The picture above does not do the bowl justice! The meal completely filled me up, and I took home a carry-out with enough leftovers for a light lunch the following day. Not bad for $10.50.

Inn Season Cafe offers daily specials, and my dining companion opted for one of those–Bourkeri at $15.95. She enjoyed it very much. I made my first faux pas of restaurant-review blogging–ALWAYS take a pen with you to jot down details! I thought memorizing the name of the dish would be enough to find it on Google later on, for a basic description. Wrong. So, I apologize for that. I will do better in the future!

In addition to stir-fries and daily specials, the Cafe offers items like appetizers, pizzas, burgers, burritoes and wraps.

Overall, Inn Season Cafe is a must-stop for veg*n dining when in the Royal Oak, Mich. area. It’s located at 500 E. 4th St., about three blocks east of Main St. There are plenty of shops within walking distance of the Cafe, including a Salvation Army shop, if you’re into browsing for items to recycle!

Adventures with TVP - Part 1

Textured Vegetable Protein. Otherwise known as TVP. This meat substitute is made from defatted soy flour, a by-product of making soybean oil.

For the longest time, I've been scared of this. Don't really know why. Guess I wasn't sure how to cook it, or how it would taste. But recently, I broke down and bought a bag of Bob's Red Mill TVP. I was intrigued yet I still let it sit in my cupboard for a while. This week I decided to take the plunge and just try it.

I chose a very basic way to use it; I just added it to my pasta sauce the way many omnis might add meat to theirs. I must say, I don't know why I was so afraid of this stuff. LOL It tasted good and was easy to use. Plus, it's high in protein and low in fat, so I think I'll be working this into my diet more often! :)