Thursday, March 08, 2007

Vegan Brooklyn Pad Thai, Vege Thai dinner, Mushrooms and Tulips

Hell yea, I finally made (aka picked up the ingredients for) the Brooklyn Pad Thai in VWAV.

I used Trader Joe's new rice noodles (99 cents!), and left out the onion and lemongrass, which I didn't see a need to pick up, as I was already buying bean sprouts, rice noodles, chili sauce and peanut oil. I did not garnish with cilantro, as I hate it. I also julienned carrots but forgot to add them. Regardless of the changes, it was still fantastic! The noodles were a bit annoying to stir fry, but they made it through all saucy and gave me dinner and lunch. Even my 'I don't want to eat Thai food, specially pad thai' at home boyfriend said it looked and smelled like the real thing (he had already eaten).

I've only cooked with peanut oil a couple times before, and I'm really pleased I picked it up - cooking with it smells just like Vege Thai. Greasy goodness of a treat (addiction?) that Vege Thai is....

I really, really love Vege Thai, and the downtown Veggie Express food cart. In particular, the food cart has given me opportunities to try different menu items that I probably would not try at the restaurant. Above, though at the restaurant, is something I've ordered twice now, the pineapple curry with tofu, medium heat.
Thomas' favorite - Pad Sei-iew with mock pepper steak. This one is great as well, made with a dark soy sauce. I am constantly asking to his plate.
If you go, do remember to ask for the 'vegan' chicken if you are vegan, as they have both vegan and vegetarian chicken.
The other night I was just feeling mushrooms for dinner, and made this balsamic galzed (VWAV) cremini, cherry tomato, field greens, avocado, roasted garlic and vegenaise sandwich on a ciabatta roll from New Seasons. I used white balsamic vinegar for the shrooms, since that's all I have right now, but I intend to pick up some red soon. The white just isn't as deep a flavor to me.
This is a Veganomican test recipe that I made for the second time on Monday night -
Spicy tempeh with broccoli and whole wheat pasta.
I'm a big spicy, and tempeh, garlic and broccoli and whole wheat pasta fan, so yum.

One of my favorite things to make and eat - stuffed mushrooms. This was my first time marinading the caps beforehand. They were in a mixture of red wine, shoyu, garlic, white balsamic and olive oil for over 24 hours. A similar recipe of mine, Hazelnut and Red Wine mushrooms, is currently up on the Herbivore website in the subscriber section (so subscribe!).


A little pile of Italian-y foods. Baked and bread tofu, roasted eggplant and garlic, baby spinach, and sundried tomato marinara (variation of a Veganomican test recipe).

The eggplant slices were rubbed with garlic and baked for 10 minutes on each side at 400F, and the tofu was dipped in soymilk, and then seasoned breadcrumbs and baked for 15-20 minutes at 400F on each side on parchment paper.


On Saturday night Thomas and I dined for the first time at The Farm Cafe. It was a special, fancypants excursion for us, but absolutely worth it - dinner and cocktails to celebrate our 4th anniversary, blah blah!
We both highly recommend the herb crusted tofu with mashed potatoes and mushroom Marsala sauce, as does everyone else we know who's tried it. The dish was $10 and worth every penny, every bite - and it's a place that focuses on local/organic!
Thomas had the wild mushroom (vegetarian) lasagna special. Unfortunately, no photos of the meal, but here are some lovely tulips:

Somehow, Zelda has not managed to eat these yet.

21 comments:

urban vegan said...

GORGEOUS tulips. Hurry up, Spring!

Isn't that Brooklyn Pad Thai great? You're lucky to have the Vege Thai--how cool.

All your food and photos look fab as always.

Kati said...

Awww you have a plant-eating kitty, too, I gather.

Cooking with peanut oil is the best - it really smells amazing.

Darn you Portland and all your yummy looking restaurants.

n/a said...

I like the looks of the second one, looks like it's a bit soupy and medium spicy, like you said! :)

All of your pics are great.

Taylor said...

Last night while I was in my kitchen not eating Thai food I was thinking,"If I had to choose one ethnic cuisine to eat forever, it would be Thai."

I've got to go to the book store and copy that VWAV Pad Thai!

scottishvegan said...

Your tulips are lovely! All that food looks so good...you are making me sooo hungry just looking at it!

Anonymous said...

That food looks so damn good. I'm useless at cooking asian food, with one exception, sushi. I love it though and should learn to make some. It's just so fiddly most of the time, with lots of chopping things and several different pots and pans to use. It's a pain in my incredibly tiny kitchen. Lovely photos!

Anonymous said...

beutiful flowers! love the colors.

as the food.. well you know i always tell you the same, they look divine

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Urban Vegan - I was really thrilled at how easy and tasty the pad thai is. Not that I have all the ingredients, I'll be sure to make it again (and again).

Kati - My younger cat, Zelda, is a greens field. Goes after them in anything, she won't eat them if they're cooked, but she will dive her nose into the bowl looking for them..
And yes - the peanut oil! I can't get over not having this around.

Cherie, Scottish & Johanna - Thank you!

Taylor - I remember having that same thought back in college when I first discovered thai. It was then I realized food could be quite spicy, with tofu and veggies, and still actually really tasty.

emmie - I am jealous, I've only had a halfassed attempt at sushi so far. I can handle stir fries, and wonton filling so far, and last night I made summer rolls. I agree, it's a lot of chopping, two nights ago when I made the pad thai I intended on making the summer rolls the same night, and realized no way, was that going to happen..
p.s. I look forward to reading your website some more!

Anonymous said...

Those tulips shall make a tasy snack soon enough!

-Zelda

erica said...

It boggles my mind that someone could dislike cilantro. I have yet to go to VegeThai. One of these days.

Happy Anniversary ya Sexy Mama!

Anonymous said...

Cilantro Haters unite! :o)
i'm so glad you and tommy enjoyed The Farm. were the servers roaming around like they weren't stressed and weren't even working there? i'm always amazed at how relaxed they look. like they don't have a care in the world.
i have some rice noodles i need to use. i just had pad thai from Pad Thai Kitchen so i'll have to wait a while to get into the mood for it again.

Sheree' said...

Oh my gosh, Your sandwich looks so good I want to eat it off the screen. Everything looks great! Guess it is time to go eat lunch now. lol

bazu said...

Happy anniversary! Those tulips look gorgeous. I figure mine should be blooming in, oh, 3 months! When I lived in CA, I used to love buying tulips from Trader Joe's. They are just so gorgeous- my favorites, along with hycinths.

bazu said...

Oh no... you hate cilantro?! {Awkward silence} I love cilantro! Hmmmmmm.

couscouscaboose said...

Tulips, Thai food ... it really couldn't get any better.

Thanks for this blog, it's my favorite yet!

JENNA said...

those tulips look like easter!

i was flipping through VwaV for the 100th time last week and decided to make the brooklyn pad thai real soon..now that i've seen your version i'm going to have to make it this week. we have a thai place by use that has a whole veggie menu..i'm a sucker for the tofu mussamun and the pad see-iew.

JENNA

KleoPatra said...

Oh yum, those stuffed mushrooms! The tulips are sensational. Really beautiful in colour and contrast.

Count me in as another who is an absolute non-fan of cilantro. I have been "diagnosed" as a so-called "Super Taster" (check Wikipedia if you're interested) and that's included in the things that peeps w/an overabundance of taste buds (such as myself) dislike. (I just found this out recently, btw thru some studies at a local university... you might want to see if you are one as well!)

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Kleo - You know, I've heard of supertasters, but never really looked into it. I fit a few descriptions - aversion to coffee, brussel sprouts and cabbage (and yup, cilantro), but other than that, I actually am a spicy food fan and like everything else listed on the wikipedia page. hmmmm.

Couscous- Um, wow, I am honored! Tell your friends! ; )

Jenna - Massaman! Yum! I've only had that a few times, but boy is that tasty.. (once actually in NY at spice)

Linda said...

I LOVE stuffed mushroom! yours look amazing!

Amey said...

One of the things I miss most about living in the Pacific Northwest is the amazing tulip explosion in the spring time. ahhh..

Anonymous said...

hi jess,
mmmmmmmmh, what a yummy post! i've somehow never managed to take a pic of the cooked pad thai because it just disappears so fast. what a great recipe that is.
congrats on the write up in/on herbivore. love that new site and can't wait for the next print issue.
yes, everyone, subscribe! :)