That Was Vegan?

I don’t generally buy disposable tableware, and for backyard BBQs and parties I’m a huge proponent of building up your own collection of thrift store plates, but I’m also a realist. Maybe you’re camping or feeding a crowd larger than your crazy plate collection, and in those instances you could use a good alternative to those old Styrofoam and plastic disposable plates many of us grew up using. 

The alternative? Repurpose. Their products are 100% made from plants, not petroleum. And they’re compostable – although only at a commercial/industrial composting facility, not in your regular backyard compost pile. (And I really don’t know anything about commercial composting, but I did find this nifty website that can help you find one in your area). But I figure, even if they end up in the landfill, at least they’re made from plants and not oil.

Did you know that nearly every piece of plastic ever made still exists today? Or that 8% of the world’s oil supply is used to make single use plastic products? And don’t even get me started on the Great Garbage Patch, or I’ll cry. 

I used Repurpose products on a camping trip, to see how they’d hold up, and they were very good. There was white wine…

Grilled tofu with BBQ sauce, and potatoes n’ onions cooked in foil…

And some more wine. Because camping. 

I still say reusable is best, but it’s not always in feasible. Repurpose products are made from plants like sugar, corn and bamboo- all renewable and much better than plastic or paper. If you’re still not convinced, check out their website, they have a great FAQ, a store locator, and you can even shop online. 

*I was provided free product for review but the opinions are 100% mine!

Follow

Share on Tumblr

Happy Monday, friends!

Oh, no one else is excited that it’s Monday? I get it. Mondays are tough. But maybe if you make these  Vegan Buffalo Ranch Sweet Potato Tacos for dinner instead of whatever else you had planned, it’ll get you a little pumped up!?

I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was pretty good. Although I didn’t get to clean out my garage as planned, since the dumpster the HOA (allegedly) ordered never showed up. That was kind of bummer because not only would it have felt good to finally get rid of all those old cabinets and such, it would’ve cleared up some much needed space in the garage. I have all these bricks that I pulled up from my patio, that are currently just piled around my front door. I need a better place to put them while I decide what I’m going to do with them. Like in the garage. So, basically, I really needed that damn dumpster. 

Sally and I took a nice hike on Saturday morning. She’s become quite the little couch potato, and now that she’s starting to get older I need to keep her active so she’ll stay healthy. We did 4 miles in an open space just south of Denver, nothing too strenuous… although she was pretty pooped afterward:

Saturday afternoon was spent in the kitchen, and it wasn’t all that successful. I made meatballs that turned out pretty good, but the dish I tried to use them in was an unmitigated disaster. Not only did it not taste (or look!) good, my entire head ended up covered in habanero juice. There was some serious burning going on for the rest of the say. It wasn’t good. 

These tacos turned out pretty great though: They’re a little sweet, just from the potato, and we all know how delicious vegan ranch and buffalo sauce are together! I whipped up a quick batch of sort-of coleslaw using the ranch dressing, and that made these tacos just perfect. I love the rich, creamy, crunch of a good coleslaw, don’t you?

The sweet potatoes themselves were grilled, because I really wanted those lovely dark grill marks on them… Although they’d be just as tasty however you want to cook them.

I served them with a side of raw sweet peppers and steamed broccoli because a girl can’t live on buffalo and ranch alone… Or can she?

Buffalo Ranch Sweet Potato Tacos

2015-07-13 08:56:42

Yields 6

Write a review

Save Recipe

Print

Ingredients

1. 2 cups sliced cabbage
2. 1 red bell pepper, roughly diced (or finely chopped, haha!)
3. 1/2 cup Follow Your Heart vegan ranch dressing, plus more for drizzling
4. 1 big sweet potato
5. Oil for grilling or non-stick spray
6. S&P to taste
7. 1/2 cup Franks buffalo sauce, plus more for drizzling

Instructions

1. Heat your grill to medium-high.
2. Mix the cabbage and bell peppers with the ranch dressing, and refrigerate until ready to assemble the tacos.
3. Slice the potatoes into 1/2" rounds and brush with a little buffalo sauce, and sprinkle with S&P. Spray your grill or veggie tray with a little non-stick, and grill until tender, 10-15 minutes each side. Chop into bite-sized pieces and toss in the remaining buffalo sauce.
4. Build the tacos with the coleslaw on the bottom, then the potatoes. Drizzle with additional ranch and buffalo.

Notes

1. Makes 4-6 tacos, depending on size

By Barb@ThatWasVegan

That Was Vegan? https://www.thatwasvegan.com/

Follow

Share on Tumblr

9 out of 10 vegans agree: Any restaurant where you can order one of these is a pretty great place, and Subculture in the Cap Hill neighborhood of Denver is no exception! I’ve mentioned them before, sent everyone I know there, even recommended them on Yelp, and finally figured it was time to include them here on Mile High Vegan Eats, the page where I review restaurants that aren’t vegan, but happen to have some pretty great vegan offerings. 

Their menu is great (as is their location on 13th and Penn, which is soooo close to where I work), tons of veggie subs on there. The best part though? They have vegan substitutions for everything! They have vegan cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, vegenaise, vegan thousand island dressing, and tempeh, which means you can veganize pretty much any sandwich on their menu. 

These are my top three:

1. The Bangkok- Tempeh, sweet chili sauce, pickle, romaine, carrot, mayo

I love this sandwich so much I even created a salad version of it so I could easily enjoy the flavors at home, anytime I want! There are so many flavors going on in there. The pickles and veggies are crisp, the sweet tempeh is perfect, and the vegenaise makes it all that much better. I always get mine on a whole wheat bun (toasted!), and I could eat it pretty much everyday. Bonus- it’s $1 off on Tuesdays!

2. The Sancho- Tempeh, green chili, cream cheese, grilled onion, lettuce, tomato

Okay, so these last two are actually tied. You guys know I’m a fool for green chile in tacos and burgers, but it turns out that it’s even better when paired with vegan cream cheese! (Also with melted cheese, as evidenced in my Meltdown Grilled Cheese which was inspired by this sandwich and another one they serve). It’s not spicy, but it’s SO flavorful!

3. The Veggie Reuban- Tempeh, sauerkraut, cheese, thousand island

Like I said, this one is actually tied for second place. The (vegan) thousand island they use on here is ridic. I think I might go get one for lunch today, in fact! 

Part of what makes Subculture so great is the same as all the other restaurants I’ve reviewed on MHVE- they’re not totally vegan. If you live in the real world, it’s likely that you have omni friends and family, possibly even a significant other, and you’d like to be able to eat out with these people! The places I choose for MHVE are spots that have something good for everyone, so everyone will be happy. 

So if you and your group are looking for a casual meal (they do have beer and some booze!), Subculture is great. The subs are huge and reasonably priced, and they also have salads. They’re at 1300 Pennsylvania, and they even have bike delivery in a limited area.

 Want more Denver-area restaurant reviews? Check out my Mile High Vegan Eats page!

Follow

Share on Tumblr

Vegan Green Chile Chick’n Mini Quiche. I’ve been wanting to create this recipe since I made my first batch of quiche for Lauren’s baby shower, waaaay back last summer. Sweet Potato & Kale and Broccoli & Cheddar came first, followed pretty quickly by a delicious Sausage & Cheese variety. 

Mini quiche are surprisingly easy to make (with easy to find ingredients!), plus they’re light n’ healthy. They make a great snack or breakfast too. Which is why I wanted a fourth flavor option. And I knew it had to include green chile. 

Why? Because I love green chile! Green Chile Blackbean Burgers, Agave-Green Chile Roasted Veggie Tacos, Green Chile Cowboy Casserole… I love ’em all. And why wouldn’t I – it’s delicious! 

I’m also a big fan of Beyond Meat and their Grilled Strips, so of course those had to go in too.

I know it’s only Wednesday but I’m already looking forward to the weekend. It’s a long weekend for me, and I’ll be cleaning out my garage. Sounds fun, no? My poor little garage is still stuffed to the gills with old cabinets, sinks, counters, and miscellaneous stuff from when we tore out the bathroom and kitchen before I moved in. I had heard a rumor that the HOA provided a roll-off dumpster once a year, so I decided to save my own money and wait to use theirs. And it’ll finally be here, Friday morning! So that, plus a little hiking and a little cooking, will be my weekend.

And relaxing. Definitely relaxing. I realized last night that it’s been 18 weeks since I moved into my condo. I’m really enjoying living alone. It’s great to come home to a kitchen (or living room, or bathroom) that’s just as clean and tidy as when you left it. I also like getting to watch tv, or read a book, or mix up a G&T whenever I feel like it!

What do YOU have planned? Whipping up a batch of mini quiche, perhaps?

Scroll down for the recipe, and while you’re at it, please share any recommendations you have for great books I should be reading!  

My goodness but I read a lot in June! This was mostly due to the long weekend on the beach (and accompanying flights), but also to the rainy weather we had so much of last month. It was the perfect excuse to hole up with a book my ipad and get some reading in!

• A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett … This might be the best book I’ve read all year. And I might still be saying that come December- it was that good! The first part of the book is a recap of Lindhout’s childhood and young adulthood, the latter of which was fantastic and full of travel. Until she’s taken hostage in Somalia and held for years. YEARS. I couldn’t put this book down. I was reading it one morning on the bus and literally missed my stop, that’s how engrossed I was!
• I’m Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted by Jennifer Finney Boylan … Great book! It came up as a Goodreads recommendation because I like both memoirs and horror. I didn’t know anything about Boylan or her story, and it was very interesting timing because the week I was reading it was also the week Caitlyn Jenner was introduced to the world (Boylan is also trans). Parts of the book focuses on what it was like for her growing up as a boy, but the majority of it is about the haunting. If you enjoy memoirs and a good ghost story, this one could be for you!
• Chance Encounters: Travel Tales from Around the World by Janna Graber …  I liked this book but didn’t love it. Not because the stories weren’t well written (they were) and certainly not because I didn’t enjoy the topic (travel = LOVE). I’m realizing that collections like this just aren’t for me. I much prefer a longer book filled with the travel adventures of one writer, rather than a multitude of shorter ones. 
• The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins … Gah! I’m torn on this one. I enjoyed most of the book but hated the end. And I really didn’t see how it was like Gone Girl, other than the mystery aspect. But it wasn’t as much of a thriller or suspense as GG was. I wont spoil the ending for you.
• The Women by TC Boyle … Once again I’m torn, but this time it’s whether I hate or love Frank Lloyd Wright. I literally cannot decide if he’s a tragic heart or a master manipulator. But I do love TC Boyle 🙂
• Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on Their Decision Not To Have Kids by Meghan Daum … First of all, it’s “childfree” not “childless”. Thank you for letting me get that off my chest! Seriously though, I definitely identify less now by my decision not to have children than I used to. I’m not saying I regret or second-guess that decision (because I, very emphatically, do not!), I just feel like it’s a less defining factor now in who I am as a woman or even just as a human being. Reading this now, with such a an open mind, was very interesting. Each of the writers has their own reasons for not wanting children (all are childree by choice), and I found I was able to identify with quite a few of them. I would recommend this book to those who are also childfree and are feeling out of step with society, or even just enjoy essay collections. It’s nice to hear from people who have made such a major, similar, decision as I have.
• Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned” by Lena Dunham … I know this book has gotten a pretty bum rap from my generation (apparently us Gen Xers don’t like those crazy millennials much!), but I liked it. A lot of what she said really reminded me of myself in my early 20’s. 
• All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner … Mindless fiction. Total beach read!

Books for July 2015

• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel … Post-flu epidemic America, some are trying to spread culture through music and theater, while some are simply still trying to survive. While a killer flu isn’t as exciting as the zombie apocolypse, I still really like this kind of book!
• Redeployment by Phil Klay …  I’m hoping I’ll enjoy this book, which is supposed to give an up-close yet textured look at the cost of war, which sounds interesting, but it appears also to be a collection which, as I’ve learned, is not my fave. We will see! 
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald … A classic. How have I never read this?
• What I was Doing While You Were Breeding by Kristin Newman … This seems to be some combination of “Selfish” from last month, and a travelogue!
• How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran … I read How to Build a Girl a few months back and loved it. Moran is profane and interesting and a die-hard feminist. I’ve seen this book compared to Tina Fey’s Bossypants which I loved, so I have high hopes for it!
• Wish You Were Here by Stewart O’Nan …  I’ve spouted off plenty of times about how much I heart O’Nan, and this is hands down my favorite book of his.  It’s the first novel I read of his (I discovered him on a plane ride shared with a copy of Faithful, the story of the 2004 BoSox as seen through the eyes of Stephen King and his BFF O’Nan), and I’ve read everything he’s written since. Each summer I re-read WYWH along with it’s follow-up, Emily Alone.  I think if I ever win Powerball, I’m going to hire O’Nan as my own personal novelist and force him to churn out stories about the Maxwell family just for me to read. 

Green Chile Chick'n Mini Quiche

2015-07-07 08:30:40

Yields 24

Write a review

Save Recipe

Print

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

35 min

Total Time

45 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

35 min

Total Time

45 min

Ingredients

1. Non-stick spray
2. 12 strips Beyond Chicken
3. (2) 12.3oz packages Lite Firm Mori-Nu Tofu, well drained
4. 1/4 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
5. 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
6. 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
7. 1/2 teaspoon paprika
8. 1/2 teaspoon salt
9. 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
10. 1/2 cup chopped roasted green chile (or 2/3 if you want more of that flavor in there!)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 and spray 2 muffin tins with non-stick spray, set aside.
2. Pulse the Beyond Chicken strips in the food processor a couple times until they're shredded (12-15 seconds-ish), and remove from the processor. Combine the tofu, milk, and all the spices in the processor and blend until smooth. Add the shredded chick'n and the green chile back in and just pulse once or twice. Taste and add salt if needed.
3. Reduce the oven heat to 350. Spoon mixture into the muffin tins and bake until the tops are golden and fork tines poked into the quiche come out clean, about 30-35 minutes. Serve hot, warm, or cold.

By Barb@ThatWasVegan

Adapted from FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Adapted from FatFree Vegan Kitchen

That Was Vegan? https://www.thatwasvegan.com/

Follow

Share on Tumblr

I tried to make these once, a long time ago, and they didn’t turn out well. Flat as pancakes, in fact. I’ve since learned from my pal Bianca that the secret to biscuits is in how you cut them (lift the cutter straight up, no twisting allowed!), and I was able to practice on a recipe from her book Cookin’ Crunk. The point I’m trying to make is I felt like I was ready to tackle these Vegan Sweet Potato Biscuits again… and this time, it was a success! 

There’s really just a hint of sweetness in there, mostly from the potatoes themselves and the little bit of turbinado sugar I included. This means they’re great for either sweet or savory dishes. And they’re so flaky and buttery, you’ll just die. Or eat them all. Or both. 

I whipped up a couple breakfast sandwiches using them that I’m going to share soon, too. 

It was a bit of a celebration in my kitchen this weekend, when I woke up and realized “Holy monkey, I’ve been vegan for 5 years now!” AND I got these biscuits to turn out so well. I truly do have so much to be thankful for 🙂

Sweet Potato Biscuits

2015-07-06 09:29:58

Yields 10

Fluffy and flaky with just a hint of sweet!

Write a review

Save Recipe

Print

Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

10 min

Total Time

30 min

Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

10 min

Total Time

30 min

Ingredients

1. 1 large sweet potato
2. 1/2+ cup regular or unsweetened non-dairy milk, separated
3. 1 1/2 cups AP flour (plus more for dusting)
4. 2 tablespoons Turbinado sugar
5. 1 tablespoon baking powder
6. 1 teaspoon salt
7. 6 tablespoons cold Earth Balance

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 420 and grease a baking sheet.
2. Peel and chop the sweet potato. Microwave until soft, then combine in the food processor with 1/3 cup milk.
3. Whisk together the dry ingredients. Cut the butter in with your hands or a pasty blender until the mix "resembles a course meal". Mix in the sweet potato mixture, and the remaining milk if needed. You want the dough to be just moist enough to stick together well. Kneed it a few times to make sure.
4. Sprinkle flour on your cutting board and pat the dough out into a 1/2 inch thick circle. Use a 2 1/2" biscuit cutter being careful to lift it STRAIGHT UP with no twisting. Gently transfer your biscuits to the baking sheet. Re-pound the scraps out into another circle and cutting, repeating as many times as necessary.
5. Bake until lightly brown, 10-12 minutes.

Notes

1. I don't own a pastry blender, but was able to get the butter cut in with just my hands. Just keep working at the pieces of butter with your fingers till they're all really tiny.

By Barb@ThatWasVegan

Adapted from Paula Deen

Adapted from Paula Deen

That Was Vegan? https://www.thatwasvegan.com/

Follow

Share on Tumblr

I’ve shared this fabulously delicious, healthy, vegan, gluten-free snack with you guys before, and just because SuperSeedz is so awesome, they’ve agreed to sponsor another giveaway! One lucky winner will win a box of their new 1oz snack packs in each flavor! 

And ohmygawd they have the most amazing new flavor – Maple Sugar & Sea Salt! It’s sweet and salty. I love maple flavor so much I couldn’t stop eating them until they were gone. Which made me a little happy that I was only holding a 1oz bag because it limited the damage I could do, haha! Their other flavors are great too, and in addition to the Maple Sugar, the winner will also receive: Cinnamon & Sugar, Coco Joe, Sea Salt, Somewhat Spicy, and Super Spicy! 

In addition to being delicious, these little seeds have lots of other things going for them as well. They’re:

• Allergen friendly
• Peanut-free
• Tree nut-free
• Egg-free
• Dairy-free
• Fish-free
• Shellfish-free
• Soy-free
• Gluten-free

They can be purchased at retailers like Costco, Sprouts, and Whole Foods, as well as online. 

 The Giveaway

One lucky reader will win a box of 1oz bags of SuperSeedz in 6 flavors! To enter, leave a comment below: What else are you doing while you snack? Driving? Hiking? Laying on the couch watching Netflix? You can also score extra points with Twitter and FB. Contest ends July 7th at midnight (mountain time). One winner will be chosen at random and announced the following day. Be sure and log your activities into Rafflecopter to make them count! Contest open to US residents only. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

*I was provided free product to review but the opinions are 100% mine!

Follow

Share on Tumblr

Hummus is wonderful. Delicious. Healthy, creamy goodness. But it can also have a ton of calories if you buy the kind made with a lot of oil. And no, I’m not an oil-free vegan by any means, but I do like to be healthy and save some calories where I can, especially when it doesn’t compromise the taste. So, once in a while, I like to make a big batch of homemade hummus to snack on at work during the week, and this is my current favorite: Garlicky Cucumber Hummus!

Just how garlicky is it, you may be wondering? If you’re thinking about making this for someone, and you ask them if they like garlic and they say “Yah, I guess…” then this is not the hummus for them. This is the hummus for people who love garlic. LOVE. 

It would also be a great snack for people with an obsessive fear of vampires.

Seriously though, lots of garlic. Don’t eat it before kissing anyone new, that would be my advice. Me, I’m on a mancation and only kissing my dogs, so I can eat as much of it as I want. The garlic and the cooling cucumber work so well together!

You know what else works well together? Ice cream and the beach… My friend Lauren and her little baby Hannah and I took a girl’s trip to Siesta Key this past weekend, and we ate ice cream for dinner. Every night. 

Here we are, on our way!

We stayed in a condo on the beach and it was lots of fun. So much sun and water and dolphins and ice cream. Mostly ice cream…

First night: Pistachio ice cream with rainbow sprinkles in a cone because it made me feel like a little kid.

Second night: Strawberry ice cream with maraschino cherries, but in a cup.

Third night: Peanut butter ice cream with strawberries and crushed oreo cookies!! This was, objectively speaking, probably the best of the 4.

Fourth night: Even thought (as mentioned) the peanut butter was the best, I had to go back to Pistachio, this time with cherries, because it was my absolute favorite flavor growing up and you so rarely see vegan pistachio ice cream anywhere! And don’t get me wrong, it was deeeelicious! Like how that cute little baby is photobombing my cone!? 

Anyway, now I’m home and I swear it’s almost as hot in Colorado as it was in Florida except now I don’t have an ocean to go jump in. Guess I’ll just stick with hummus and Strawberry Basil Gin & Tonics!

Garlicky Cucumber Hummus

2015-06-26 07:58:14

Write a review

Save Recipe

Print

Ingredients

1. 6 cloves garlic
2. 1 small cucumber, peeled and quartered
3. 3 tablespoons lemon juice plus zest of 1 lemon
4. 2 tablespoons tahini
5. 2 cans of chickpeas, drained plus 3 tablespoons of the bean liquid (save the rest in case you need to add more!)
6. 1 tablespoon salt

Instructions

1. Combine the garlic, cucumber, lemon juice, and zest in your food processor, and blend until the garlic is very, very fine. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until everything is smooth. Add additional bean liquid to get the consistency you like.
2. Serve chilled.

Notes

1. This recipe does have a serious garlic "bite", so if you're not a huge garlic fan, feel free to pare it back a little.

By Barb@ThatWasVegan

That Was Vegan? https://www.thatwasvegan.com/

Follow

Share on Tumblr

Summer is here, and what better way to celebrate than with Native Foods Cafe’s new summer menu items!? Okay, that sounded like a cheesy commercial intro, but it’s true. I am a big huge unapologetic fan of Native Foods. I love that I can go in and order nachos or a fried chicken sandwich or a bacon cheeseburger, and it’s ALL VEGAN! So when they emailed and asked if I wanted to come over and try their new summer dishes, I didn’t even have to think about it. I was in. And so was Denise, my lucky +1. 

Here’s a glimpse of what we ate. I was going to try and order them by how much we loved each one, but that’s too hard. So I just kept them in the order we ate them in!

Grilled Avocado Plate: Freshly grilled with greens, tofu bacon, radishes and lemon vinaigrette. This was kind of a salad but really more of  an appetizer. The avocado was fresh and delicious, and the vinaigrette was great, very garlicky (but don’t let that scare you, they only put a tiny bit on there). The star of the show though was the tofu bacon. It was by far the best vegan bacon I’ve ever had. Literally. We joked that next time we’d just like an order of that bacon… but we weren’t really joking. 

Korean BBQ Sub: Street style Korean seitan, pineapple slaw and crispy mushrooms on a baguette. I fully expected this to be my favorite, and it didn’t disappoint. You guys know how much I love Korean BBQ and I’ll order it any chance I get. The crispy mushrooms were very flavorful, and I really enjoyed the slaw. Denise says she doesn’t really like pineapple, but even she liked the slaw. It’s very mild, only a hint of pineapple but it goes perfectly with the bbq flavor. This comes with a side (we had the potato salad), and this would satisfy even the hungriest eater.

Summer Berry Salad (GF): Fresh summer blueberries and strawberries tossed with kale, romaine, seasonal veggies and mango lime dressing. Denise and I proclaimed this salad to be the dark horse of our dining experience. The description sounded good but we were more focused on the other items. I suppose we were just less excited about eating a salad. We were very, very wrong though, because this salad was AMAZING! The berries were perfectly ripe, there was jicama in there, which is a huge favorite of mine, and that dressing was to die for. I hope the recipe for it is in their next cookbook because I want more. I want to put it on every salad I eat. It was sweet and tart and with just a hint of (I think?) salt, it was perfection. 

Last, but certainly not least… Blueberry Crumble: Summer berries with a crunchy oat crust. This was quite possibly the perfect dessert. It wasn’t overly sweet, even with the brown sugar crumble, and you could tell it was fresh. It was also surprisingly light- even after all that other food we ate, we weren’t sorry that we went with dessert too. 

So if you’re lucky enough to find yourself near one of the 26 Native Foods Cafes, please stop in and try some of their new dishes. Or just stick with their nachos. You can’t ever go wrong with their nachos!

*I was provided free product to review but the opinions are 100% mine!

Follow

Share on Tumblr

I have a very favorite sub shop near my office. It’s called Subculture and it is phenomenal. Phe-nom-en-al. They’re fast and relatively inexpensive, and delicious. Oh, and they have vegan substitutes for pretty much everything, which means my choices there are virtually unlimited. The sandwich I order the most often is called The Bangkok (do you see where I’m going with this?), and it has “tempeh, sweet chili sauce, pickle, romaine, carrot, mayo”. It’s wonderful, and so that I can enjoy it more often (and in my pajamas), I’ve gone ahead and created a salad version: The Bangkok Salad! Tempeh cooked in a homemade Thai sweet chili sauce, dill pickles, tons of crisp romaine, all with a very special twist: the dressing. It’s a little bit of the sweet chili sauce combined with extra Thai hot chili paste and Vegenaise! 

This way I can have all the same flavors, but with about 200 times more lettuce. And no bread. In my pajamas. Win-win-win.

Tempeh and I have rather a love/hate relationship, but it’s just perfect in this salad. Look at that tempeh, all smothered in the sweet chili dressing! This is one of those salads that is just so flavorful, you’ll forget you’re actually eating a salad! 

I’ve been to Bangkok, and I remember eating tons of amazing food, but I don’t remember anything like this. I actually don’t think I ate anything with sweet chili sauce. Pretty sure it’s like Sriracha in that we have it here and call it “Thai”, but they don’t actually eat it? I expected rooster sauce to be everywhere over there, and I don’t think I saw a single bottle of this stuff. Interesting. 

Of course, I was all hopped up on Chang beer, so who knows?

Haha, get it? “Hopped” up on beer? 

If you’re interested in other salads that are hearty and filling and sort of outside the bowl (gawd I’m funny today!), give one of these a try!

• Jerk Bean Salad
• Buffalo Tofu Corn Salad
• Monsoon Salad (a personal fave, inspired by my trip to Cambodia!)
• Sweet Potato Spinach Salad

Bangkok Salad

2015-06-15 15:29:08

Serves 4

A flavorful salad that's hearty enough for the hungriest eater!

Write a review

Save Recipe

Print

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

15 min

Total Time

20 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

15 min

Total Time

20 min

Ingredients

1. 1 batch Thai sweet chili sauce (recipe below), with 1/4 cup set aside
2. 1 package tempeh
3. 4 tablespoons Vegenaise
4. 1-2 teaspoons sambal oelek (Thai chili paste)
5. 2 heads of romaine lettuce
6. 2 large carrots, grated
7. 3-4 dill pickle spears, chopped

Instructions

1. Chop the tempeh into bite-sized pieces. Combine with the sauce in a small pan over low heat. Simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes. When done, remove from heat and set aside. You want it to be warm but not hot when added to the salad.
2. While the tempeh is cooking, mix the remaining sweet chili sauce with the Vegenaise and sambal oelek in a small bowl. Whisk with a fork to make sure it's completely combined. Start with 1 teaspoon of the chili paste, adding more to suit your tastes. Set aside.
3. Build your salads, starting with the lettuce and carrots, then sprinkle the pickles and top with the warm tempeh. Drizzle with the dressing, and serve immediately.

Notes

1. If you want to make this ahead of time, just don't add the tempeh or dressing to the veggies until you're ready to serve (and re-heat the tempeh in the microwave!)
2. This may not seem like a ton of dressing, but it's totally enough for 4 salads, trust me. You might even have a few tablespoons leftover.

By Barb@ThatWasVegan

That Was Vegan? https://www.thatwasvegan.com/

Follow

Share on Tumblr