Vegan Good Eats

Where to eat? Pan-roasted organic mushrooms with toasted walnut-red pepper

A fantastic holiday (or any day) recipe from Prego’s executive chef John Watt. Vegan Good Eats puts his vegan cooking chops to the test. The result is an earthly orgy of organic mushrooms coupled with a silky sauce, dotted with salsa verde.

They ask, “where do you eat?”

I respond, “where do YOU eat?”

Nothing is perhaps more annoying than answering a question with another question, but that specific somewhat mischievous act proves a point. I eat where you eat: at restaurants. Sometimes, [...]

Independence Day Smoked Chili with Ancho Chiles

I do not think this needs an introduction, except that it is the perfect addition to 4th of July menu. After all, it has its origins in San Antonio and it is the official dish of Texas. Chili con carne? Hell no. Let’s keep Helga the pig and Ursula the cow safe this holiday and bring out the big vegan guns.

Chili sin carne? Don’t mind me.

1/3 cup olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, seed and ribs removed, minced
1 red pepper, [...]

Tomato Zucchini Fritters with Vegan Tzatziki

I remember detesting both tomato and zucchini when I was a child. I could not even handle seeing other people eat them, and wonder if all adults have a skewed sense of taste. I did not understand the purpose of zucchini either, especially when introduced to zucchini bread. Why foodie Gods? Why?

I am not sure at what point I started accepting tomatoes as a possibility. Perhaps when I realized ketchup and pizza sauce were tomato based, or when I fell [...]

Not for the Wimp Bad Ass Pad Thai: Veganizing Le Fish Sauce

I am a cultural mutt. But neither of my ethnicities have anything to do with Thai. But I know good food when I see it, smell it, and eat it.

I am horrified at the many attempts out there to recreate Pad Thai that have nothing to do with the original, whose flavor depends on a mixture of tamarind juice, palm sugar and fish sauce.

Yes, I am aware we live in a Western centric society and that our diet is starting to [...]

Purple Basil Coconut Crusted Fried Green Tomatoes with Mango Salsa

I believe this recipe needs no introduction, but since I like to write, I will anyway.

The Paula Dean in me wanted to do something, well, southern. The type of dish I could practice with pseudo southern twang as I figure out a way to incorporate deep fried techniques into everything, substitute donuts where bread should be, and pretend a stick of butter is a standard ingredient in all recipes, including a peanut butter and jam sandwich.

Well, I didn’t quite go [...]

Vegan Har Gow: Traditional Chinese Dumplings with Shiitake and Red Spinach

Don’t you love learning new words in a different language you do not speak? I am silly as I love to practice my pseudo make-believe accent and attempt to sound authentic. Then I laugh at myself and cook. Then eat.

Dumplings are so flexible. Once you know the technique, you can fill them with whatever you like. Although these are traditionally made with shrimp, I am known for ignoring tradition. After all, I am a cultural mutt and think things get [...]

Vegan Tempeh Lettuce Wraps

I have to acknowledge that indeed, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro has an acceptable selection of vegetarian and vegan menu items. Their tofu lettuce wraps have been a recent addition, but I believe mine are better, because most home cooking should be, and because I use tempeh and wild mushrooms.

A perfect summer appetizer, light lunch, or meal, one can add a myriad of different accompaniments other than the lettuce cups to create exotic flavor combinations and textures. The presentation is stunning, [...]

Chinese Mushroom Steamed Buns a la Dim Sum

I am sure you have heard the joke: “I’ll have dim sum… And dim some more.” Well if you do not remember it, then you weren’t obsessed with Will and Grace circa 1999. I was, and still am thanks to Karen’s whimsical, dysfunctional and unpredictable zingers. Like Karen’s addiction to prescription drugs washed with martinis, it is easy to get carried away eating dim sum as traditionally, carts go around the restaurant and it is up to you to keep [...]

Vegan Banh Xeo: Traditional Vietnamese Crepe

Up until recently, I had no idea what Banh Xeo was never mind how to pronounce it. It just seemed like an exotic name that needed more investigation. So I did some investigating. I researched, I googled, I youtubed, I library-ed, and most importantly, I ate. I visited a couple of restaurants and ordered one doctored up. The traditional Banh Xeo is filled with fatty pork, shrimp, and dipped in stinky fermented fish sauce made from aging decomposing anchovies in [...]

Papa Rellena: Stuffed Potato Peruvian Style

My beautiful mother with my childhood poodle, Gigi

Today is Mother’s Day and I can’t see anything more fitting than honoring where I was born: Lima, Peru. Land of the Incas, the delicious Lucuma, Machu Picchu, arid beaches, Lake Titicaca, the Nazca Lines and a huge part of my cultural heritage, the food of Peru is rich, varied, and unmatched. The three major geographical regions, Costa, Sierra y Selva (Coast, Highlands and Jungle) create a diversity of traditions, natural resources [...]