Vegan spicy eggplant with kale and white Rice

At my local Thai restaurant I tasted a spicy eggplant dish that tasted sooo delicious I had to try and recreate it. I did a lot of research online and almost all recipes included oyster sauce or fish sauce so I decided to attempt re-creating the taste with a vegan friendly recipe.

The reason I'm so excited about how it turned out is because I had absolutely no recipe to follow. I used ingredients that I thought would taste well together and would also give me the same type of flavor as the dish I tried at the Thai restaurant. Also, cooking has always been my escape. It's the only activity I can do where I think of nothing else but chopping, mixing, tasting, mincing and anything else done through out the cooking process.  It's my therapy.

Main Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, rinsed and diced in large chunks
1 bunch of fresh kale, rinsed and cut into strips (below I've included instructions on how to prepare the kale for cooking)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil

Sauce Ingredients:
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons organic sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable broth
1/3 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup water
4 to 5 dried red hot chili peppers, make sure to soak in hot water for about 10 minutes prior to cooking with them
 
Ingredients prior to cooking:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 




How to prepare the kale for cooking:  
Rinse kale well in large bowl of warm water; place in colander, drain
Discard any discolored leaves
To trim away tough stem ends, make "V-shaped" cut at stem end; discard tough stems (I found this picture online, not mine but this is how you remove the stems)

Prepare a chiffonade of the leaves by rolling them up jellyroll style.

Slice the rolled leaves crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices with chef's knife. Separate the kale into strips

How to cook the eggplant and kale:
Pour vegetable and sesame oils into a 12-inch nonstick frying pan or a 14-inch wok over medium-high heat. When hot, add eggplant and stir frequently until soft when pierced and lightly browned. Transfer the eggplant to paper towels to drain.

In the same hot pan/wok add the kale and saute until soft and wilted, add the cooked eggplant to the pan again and pour the cooked, thickened sauce to the pan (how to make the sauce is explained below). Mix all ingredients together until eggplant and kale are covered in the sauce.

How to make the sauce:
In a bowl, mix soy sauce, garlic, sugar, vinegar, vegetable broth, cornstarch, water, garlic, and chilies. Mix together  until cornstarch is dissolved. Pour into a saucepan and stir until mixture is simmering and thickened, about 2 minutes. Below what my sauce looked like after 2 minutes of simmering.

How to serve:
Serve the spicy eggplant and kale over cooked white rice or brown rice.

Hope you enjoy!

-V

Organic Brown Rice

A quick and easy dish to make if  you want to eat something filling that's ready in 15 minutes or less!

Ingredients:
1 package ready to eat Organic Brown Rice from Trader Joe's (the air sealed package, not frozen). I should have taken a picture of the package for easier reference but didn't. :(
1 package of your favorite sliced or diced mushrooms. For this recipe I used 2 large portebella mushrooms diced in big chunks
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a medium sauce pan heat the oil over medium heat. Once the oil is heated mix in the mushrooms and saute until tender/done
2. Open the package of brown rice and mix in with the mushrooms, add the tablespoon of soy sauce and mix together until the rice is fluffy and warm
3. Add salt and pepper to taste (taste before adding since the soy sauce may add enough salt)

Picture of finished dish:

"Meat Sauce" - My style

Yesterday I went to visit a friend and his mom was making spaghetti with meatballs and I had a huge craving for a really good meat sauce and pasta. So today I decided to try and make vegan meat sauce and after taking the first bite my craving was definitely satisfied!

This is what the dish looked like after being served.

Ingredients:
1 package of Trader Joe's brand Beefless Ground Beef
1 package of sliced mushrooms (you can use any type of mushroom, your choice)
1 16oz can of diced tomatoes, preferably unsalted
1/4 of a cup of vegetable broth
1 packet of Trader Joe's Taco Seasoning
1 table spoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pinch of Salt
1 package of your favorite pasta





Directions for meat sauce:
Heat the EVOO in a medium saucepan over high heat, throw in the mushrooms to saute, add a pinch of salt to the mushrooms while sauteing. Once the mushrooms are a little soft add the entire package of the beefless ground beef and mix together. Heat for about 3 minutes and add a few sprinkles (about 1/2 table spoon) of the Trader Joe's taco seasoning and 1/4 cup of the vegetable broth. Simmer for another 4 minutes and then add the entire can of the diced tomatoes. As you are mixing you can smash up the tomatoes to release more of the juices. Simmer on low heat for about 8 minutes and your meat sauce is done.

Cook pasta as directed in the package and once cooked pour the meat sauce over the pasta and serve.

It's delicious! And I didn't miss any of the real meat.

Enjoy!

-V

Sea Veggies!!

These are 'effin delicious! And a great snack. Just had to share.

-V

mmmm Gumbo! The quick cooking Vegan kind of Gumbo.

For Vegan Wednesday this week I experimented with Vegan Gumbo...no such thing as Vegan Gumbo you say? Well, after you tastes this recipe you will definitely change your mind. I had a really hard time finding frozen okra for this recipe but after discussing it with my critics the okra can be removed from the recipe and it would taste just as good. Okra isn't for everyone! I personally like the squishyness of it but some people have an issue with the texture.

Pictures of the gumbo while it cooked without the okra:

Picture of the gumbo while it cooked with the okra:

In the pictures above I doubled the recipe, but I'm listing the original recipe which is supposed to yield 4 servings.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thinly

1 16 oz package frozen bell pepper strips (I found mine at Trader Joe's, they have the multi-colored bell pepper strips)

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes (I chose organic, no salt added diced tomatoes)

1 15 oz can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (I only drained 1/2 of the liquid and did not rinse)

1/2 tablespoon of cajun spice

1/2 tablespoon of Chef Paul Prudhomme Blackened Redfish Magic Spice

1/2 pound Vegan sausage links cajun spiced (I did not find cajun spiced vegan sausage so I replaced with Tofurkey Spicy Italian Sausage) cut into 1 inch slices

3/4 cup rice (I chose Trader Joe's ready cooked brown organic rice)

8 ounces frozen cut okra (optional as it does add a different texture)

Hot Sauce to serve with (but it's spicy enough without the hot sauce)

Directions:

Heat oil over medium heat in a large pot until warm

Add garlic and saute briefly

Stir in bell peppers and cook for about 4 minutes

Stir in tomatoes, beans and seasoning spices

Bring to boil and add rice and sausage

Cover and simmer for 10 minutes

Add okra and simmer for another 10 minutes, if you are not using ready cooked rice simmer until rice is cooked and make sure to add more liquid as needed

I think this recipe would be just as delicious if you excluded the vegan sausage. It is substantial enough to provide good protein without the soy sausage.

Enjoy your gumbo!

-V



Good News...sort of.

Today I went to meet with the Cancer Board at Kaiser in Los Angeles as a result of the tumor they removed last month. I met with 4 different cancer specialists to review my medical history and to discuss options for future treatments...let me tell you! It was a very sobering experience. There were 3 other patients there that had cancerous tumors removed from the same gland that I did and all 3 were bald, very sickly, pale looking and going through chemo. One of the doctors even made a comment about how healthy and glowy my skin and face looked after only 4 weeks since surgery. I realized then that the difference between me and the other 3 patients was that I had chosen to become vegan the day after my surgery and have been on a vegan diet for almost 4 weeks now. When they weighed me I was shocked and pleasantly surprised to see that I weighed 24lbs less than the day I went in for my surgery. That's without exercising, so now that I have the ok to exercise I'm sure my weight loss will increase.

Now, after the doctors reviewed my case they confirmed that my tumor was caused by the radiation that I received when I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Radiation therapy is a very common method used to kill off cancer cells in your body, but in my case the radiation therapy also caused the cancerous tumor to develop in my parotid gland, many many years after my diagnosis with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. I did take this news a bit hard because I prefer radiation therapy over chemo, hands down. But now radiation will not be an option for me when fighting cancer. My doctors were very supportive of my decision to go vegan. They all agreed that even though my decision to go vegan may seem drastic to some, it's a small change compared to what drastic measures they would recommend to decrease my chances of getting a cancerous tumor again. Recommendations like a full hysterectomy at my age and since cancer runs in my family AND I have a long history of cancer myself my odds of developing breast cancer are sooo high they would recommend a full removal of both my breasts. One of my friends told me that she would rather be alive and not whole, then dead and whole but the thought of losing both my breasts scares the crap out of me.

I've been asked by Kaiser to be a part of a trial genetics study because my medical history is so unique. The study would monitor me once a month to note any changes in my body and be able to detect another cancerous tumor almost as soon as it develops. But I think that my choice to become vegan is going to save me from cancer. I am so committed to this to prove to everyone that a vegan, healthy, plant based diet is the fountain of youth and the best medicine againts cancer.

A picture just 2 days after surgery:













A picture 4 weeks after surgery:













Good health and love.

-V

One of my staples...Veggie Fried Rice

Veggie fried rice has definitely become a staple, easy, go to recipe when I want to eat something filling. I've gotten into the habit of always having rice at hand because the best fried rice is made from day old rice.

You can use any type of rice you prefer, brown, Jasmin, basmati...or just plain white and you can add any type of veggies you prefer. My favorites are green and yellow squash, broccoli, mushrooms, onions, snap peas, tomatoes and baby corn. You can also add tofu to the rice but I prefer my rice soy free.

Directions:

In a pan sautee all of the chopped up veggies in olive oil or grape seed oil until they are tender. In a separate pan heat up grape seed oil, once hot fry the day old rice until it's a little brown. Then add the veggies to the pan, once all of the ingredients are mixed add a few dashes of low sodium soy sauce (add as much as you want but taste after a few dashes to make sure it's not too salty). If you are vegetarian you can add egg to the fried rice but since I'm vegan I make it without the egg.

Rice Lover!

-V

Vegan Southern Fried Chicken

I regret not taking any pictures of my Vegan Southern Fried Chicken with potato salad that I made yesterday. It tasted really good! It's another recipe that I tried from Chef Roberto Martin's book, "Vegan Cooking for Carnivores".

I had to make some adjustments to the recipe because I couldn't find a few of the ingredients that he listed but it still tasted amazing. Every Wednesday I've been cooking for the Gonzalez family and it has now become known as Vegan Wednesdays and the Vegan Southern Fried Chicken received the approval from the Gonzalez's so I was happy with all my hard work.

The "fried chicken" uses Gardein's chick'n scallopini and rice paper as the "fried chicken" skin. The secret to how good it tastes is definitely in the spice blend. It's good enough to use on real chicken when frying it up.

But the biggest hit was the potato salad. I learned this recipe from my aunt and vegan or non-vegan versions are delicious!

Violeta's Potato Salad

Ingredients:

6 to 8 large red potatoes, diced in large chunks prior to cooking, with the skin on
2 to 3 stalks of celery, diced small
1/2 a white onion, diced small
Vegan Mayo
Yellow mustard (French's is my favorite brand)
Garlic Salt, Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Boil the diced potatoes in salted water until you are able to stick a fork through the potato (not mushy because then it will become chunky mashed potato salad). In a colander throw the diced celery and onions so that when you drain the potatoes of the hot water in the colander, the celery and onions get "semi" cooked with the hot water. Let the potatoes, celery and onions cool for about 15 minutes and then throw in a bowl. Add the vegan mayo, about 3 to 4 heaping tablespoons, about 2 to 3 heaping tablespoons of the yellow mustard, about 1 tablespoon of the garlic salt and a large pinch of kosher salt and pepper. Mix everything together until the potatoes look a bit creamy. Taste at this point and see if you need to add more garlic salt, salt or pepper.

Enjoy your potatoes!

-V

Sage Vegan Bistro

Today I went to Sage Vegan Bistro in the Echo Park area of L.A and let me tell you....I LOVED it! I walked out with phone numbers for new vegan friends, about 5 vegan restaurants to try and a few recipes that I need to cook up.

I went with my cousin who is not only a picky eater, he loves loves chicken and so eating lunch without chicken was asking a lot from him but I was lucky that he was feeling adventurous and decided to accompany me to the restaurant.

I ordered the Jamaican Jerk Burger with German potato salad and it was ORGASMIC!!! It tasted so delicious. My cousin had the Bacon Chili Cheese burger and it was also very very good. I will definitely be going back to try everything on the menu.

We also had dessert, a banana split Sunday which did not look like vegan ice cream and tasted better than any ice cream I have had.

Go check it out if you're in the LA area.

-V

Breakfast...my least favorite meal of the day.

My favorite breakfast meal always consisted of chorizo from El Salvador, fried plantains, sunny side up eggs, Salvadorean crema, refried black beans and maybe a cheese pupusa so as a vegan my least favorite meal of the day has now become breakfast. I just haven't found a way to spice it up....I've done the vegan pupusa and well any kind of bean has now become a staple in my diet but not for breakfast. It just doesn't taste the same without my Salvadorean chorizo BUT I still try.

So I was pleasantly surprised to find out that plain, boring oatmeal could taste really good for breakfast. My aunt recently introduced me to ground flaxseed and I love how much nutty flavor it can add to boring old oatmeal. I use the ready made steel cut frozen oatmeal from Trader Joe's. I usually thaw the individually wrapped packages two at a time in the fridge and in the morning I just throw the thawed oatmeal in a sauce pan, add non-dairy milk like Almond, soy or rice milk, mix in a heaping tablespoon of ground flaxseed and a teaspoon of organic sugar.

Once everything is mixed in and warmed up I'll pour it in a bowl and add some fresh or frozen fruit and sliced almonds. Always happy at how good I can make something taste.



Happy Breakfasting!

-V

Cold Lentil Salad..mmm yummy!

I went camping to Jalama Beach this weekend and needed to take food that would be easy to make and not require a lot of cooking. My best dish of the weekend was cold lentil salad. I found a package of steamed, ready to eat lentils at Trader Joe's that you can either consume hot or cold. If you want hot lentils you just throw the entire packet in boiling water to warm up the lentils, which I did but then let the lentils cool down before making the salad.

The ingredients for the salad are very basic:

1 package of steamed lentils, cold
1 steak tomato, diced small
1/2 red onion, diced small
1 bunch of cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
Kosher Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and voila! cold lentil salad is done. It was delish! and very nutritious.

Happy lentiling! :)

Feeling Lazy

Feeling lazy to cook... settled for sliced tomatoes and cucumbers with lime juice and salt. Also a vegan patty with gluten free bread. The vegan patty I found at Trader Joe's, it's the masala flavored vegan patty and it was delicious!

I used Hummus Dairy Free dressing to spread on the bread as well which made my sandwhich delicious!!!

By the way I tried the non-chicken strips from Trader Joe's and they were gross, but the beef less ground beef is delicious!!!

Vegan Jackfruit Carnitas

In all of my recipe research I kept running into recipes for vegan carnitas made out of something called jackfruit. I had never heard of jackfruit before but once I saw the pictures of the finished product it looked sooo much like pork I had to try to make it myself.

I found the cans of young jackfruit in brine at my local Asian Market so I bought two cans. Most recipes suggest using young jackfruit in water because the brine has a strong vinegar taste, but advise that if you can't find the cans of jackfruit in water to use the ones in brine and soak the jackfruit in water for at least an hour to get rid of the vinegar taste. In my recipe I did soak the jackfruit in water for an hour but my finished vegan carnitas still had a strong vinegar taste to them. I will try to find the jackfruit in water because this is definitely a recipe I will make again. However I will make in bigger batches because total prep time was about 4 hours.

Most recipes recommended using a crock pot so that you can cook all of the ingredients for 8 hours but I found a stove top recipe that required two hours of simmering and about 1 hour in the broiler/oven to make the vegan jackfruit carnitas crispy. I had to do the stove top recipe because I do not own a crock pot.

This is what the can of jackfruit looks like:

The ingredients pre-cooking:

The ingredients all mixed in the pan:

Spice blend (flexible, if you don't have a couple of the spices on hand just work with what you've got):

2 tablespoons mild chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon oregano

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

For Carnitas:

Two 20 oz can of Jackfruit in brine or water. If using the jackfruit in brine make sure to soak the jackfruit in water for at least an hour prior to cooking.

Homemade spice blend (see above)

1 tablespoon cooking oil (I prefer olive oil)

1 small white onion diced (the original recipe said diced in large pieces but after making the recipe, I would do the onions diced in small pieces)

1 teaspoon lime juice

4 cloves garlic, minced

One 12 oz can of mild salsa verde

Directions:

Add the spice blend to the drained jackfruit and make sure that each piece of jackfruit is well coated with the spice blend (do this in a bowl prior to cooking). You can use a masher to mash in the spice blend and to mash the jackfruit. The jackfruit will start to disintegrate but this is what makes it look like pork.

In heated pan with olive oil mix in the diced onions, the coated jackfruit with the spice blend, the lime juice and the minced garlic

Sautee the above ingredients for about 5 minutes on high heat

Then add the 12 oz can of mild salsa verde and reduce heat to the lowest possible setting and simmer for two hours

Let stand overnight and when ready to eat place in oven for at least an hour to make the "carnitas" crispy

Enjoy in a taco, a burrito, a salad, or any recipe where you would enjoy carnitas.

Finished product:

Happy eating!

-V