Tonight I made the cholent recipe from Veganomicon. It came out really good, though it didn’t really remind me of real cholent the way my mama and her mama used to make it, but it does make for a delicious and hearty stew all the same.

I made a few changes to the recipe. I used red lentils instead of French lentils because that’s what I had on hand. I used peas instead of lima beans, not because I don’t like them but because I couldn’t find them already cooked (I wanted to make this now and not wait for beans to soak… the recipe said peas could be substituted), and I used ready made seitan instead of TVP chunks. They specify in the recipe that it must be TVP chunks and not the flakes, however TVP chunks are impossible to get just about anywhere unless I wanted to bother mail-ordering some (or try harder), which I didn’t. The seitan made a fine substitute and allowed me to make the entire recipe using all organic ingredients.

I really liked the flavor that came through from the caraway seeds. Next time I make this I’ll use more garlic, leave out the lentils and instead use barley which is more traditional. I’ll also acquire lima beans as it’s not really cholent without them. Overall, a great recipe as is, regardless of whatever you call it. There’s lots of interesting info on cholent to be found in the Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholent

Le Chaim!

Here’s a delicious bowl of hot tofu soup at Vegan Express. The broth is fantastic… full of flavor, crunchy veggies and heavy on the garlic. Don’t let the simplicity of it’s appearance fool you, this is good stuff I tell you.

I wasn’t planning on posting anything here today, but I’m using this soup entry as an excuse to brag about the fact that while I was eating it, none other than Forrest Whitaker walked in to the place to have his own meal. Hell yeah, ‘Ghost Dog’ in the flesh! I recall reading about how he was among the ranks of well-known celebrity vegetarians, so here’s proof that it’s totally true. Well, I don’t actually have any proof because I only photographed my soup and not him (where, oh where are my priorities?), so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

The Dressing Room in Sherman Oaks is a fresh and clever upgrade to the dreadful old-school salad bars. Instead of leaving everything out in the open for everyone and their mothers to cough and sneeze on, the plethora of salad options here are kept behind glass and are assembled right in front of you instead. Think of it as a salad bar meets Subway, only a lot less gross.

The Dressing Room uses “locally grown & harvested produce from Southern California, purchased from environmentally sensitive farmers who believe in cultivating the finest organic produce.” They get their produce delivered daily.

The way it works is you fill out a little sheet which lists all the options that can go into your salad. You can pick from any of their “classic” or “specialty” salad suggestions or totally make one up just the way you want it. As their website explains, “we provide 6 types of greens, 64 amazing toppings, 32 delicious dressings and 16 quality protein sytles to choose from”.

Their “salad specialists” will then put the salad together for you and then chop it all up with these wickedly cool chopping blades that I am quite envious of. I opted to pick my own ingredients, and after much deliberation finally settled on: romaine, beets, carrots, green beans, hearts of palm, red & yellow peppers, jicama, cranberries, roasted butternut squash (a special they had for the day), and blackened tofu. I worry when I order anything tofu at a place that’s not catering exclusively to vegetarians, because it’s really easy to mess it up and make it taste blah… but the blackened tofu here was very tasty, I liked the seasonings (nice kick without being too salty) and the tofu had a nice, chewy bite to it.

Now that’s a salad! As they promised, everything was fresh and crisp and flavorful. By all means, it’s a perfect lunch, and big enough to share between two people. Be careful when chosing a dressing though. I wrongly assumed the roasted red pepper dressing would be vegan but it was quite creamy. They’ve got many others to pick from though including the good old stand-by of oil & vinegar. With so many options to choose from here, you could have a different salad every day of the month and never have to repeat yourself.

There are those who hate on L.A something fierce. I’m willing to bet that none of them have ever visited the Hollywood Farmers Market on a fine mid-winter day like today (sunny and warm, crisp blue skies and just the tiniest hint of a breeze).

The Hollywood Farmers Market rules for so many reasons, so don’t even get me started. Just go if you haven’t already. And ride the metro… it’s right there and you won’t find parking any closer, or cheaper. You might even run into a celebrity. Like Gwen Stefani.

Instead of my usual soul food lunch at the farmers market, today I ventured out and tried the Korean food stand instead. The nice lady there makes these delicious vegan vegetable pancakes.

The plate came with noodles, rice and kim chee. It was all great, though my pancakes were a little bit under cooked on the inside. If I get these again I’ll ask for them well-done and crispy. I also want to try her tasty looking tofu, which looks like it’s nice and spicy with Korean goodness.

And here’s the bounty I came home with. From left to right: mandarin oranges, purple cauliflower (oh joy!), artichokes, fuji apples, arugula, watercress, mint, sage, cherimoya, rainbow chard. The lemons are not from the farmers market but they insisted on being in the picture. What was I going to do, argue with a lemon?

All of this, along with the lunch and a round trip on the metro = under $30.
Wearing sandals and a t-shirt in January while sampling strawberries = priceless.

So of course I was eager to make something with the purple cauliflower from the farmers market. I mean hello, it’s purple! Simple is what I do best, so very simply I roasted the cauliflower along with butternut squash in a light coating of olive oil, agave nectar, coriander, ginger powder and red pepper flakes. It came out very tasty, with the butternut squash perfectly caramelized at the edges.

To go with this dish I also tried my hand once again at the infamous Veganomicon Chickpea Cutlets. This time around I was much more successful (you can read about my not so successful first try, here). What did I do differently this time around?

As suggested by Your Vegan Mom, I made sure to use the exact measurements of liquids so as to not mess up all the mysterious wheat gluten magic action. Since I didn’t want to use as much soy sauce as the recipe calls for (2 tablespoons), I instead used 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of Bragg’s and substituted the last 1/2 with water. Also, this time I fried them instead of baked.

The texture and consistency was much better. They are quite good! I had to use a lot more oil in order to fry them up nicely than I’d normally like to use when I cook (my fault for not using non-stick pans), so next time I’ll try baking them again but will make sure to use enough liquid, perhaps even a bit extra to compensate.

Before I forget, here’s a few more things I recently cooked up…

Yummy salad of red cabbage, fuji apple, garbanzo beans, lime juice, flax oil and ‘Bragg Healthy Organic Vinaigrette’.

Quinoa cooked with kale, garlic, coriander, cumin and turmeric.

Kamut pasta with a sauce made from walnuts, red bell pepper, garlic, lemon juice, flax oil, sambal, agave nectar and a dash of black pepper. Wow, this came out way better than I could have hoped for as I was inventing it on the fly. The picture doesn’t make it look very appetizing (that’s Nooch sprinkled on top btw), but you’ll have to take my word for just how good it tasted. Would I lie to you?

I am very pleased to announce another new delicious addition to the growing roster of amazing vegetarian restaurants in Los Angeles, Shojin. Shojin restaurant is set to open in Little Tokyo by the end of January, but three lucky little L.A. vegan food bloggers (with their bellies still full from the awesome brunch just hours earlier!) got a special invitation to Shojin’s sneak peak menu tasting. Lucky indeed, as this was no ordinary sampler type tasting but a full-on four course meal (with our pick from two options for each course).

From their website: “Located in downtown Los Angeles, Shojin restaurant offers organic and natural meals inspired by “Shojin Cuisine” Japanese traditional vegetarian food. We provide organic and natural foods utilizing seasonal vegetables to create unique and a new style of Japanese food.”

From the moment we arrived, we were treated like royalty. The staff was so nice and so genuinely eager to please. This, coupled by the fact that they had a photographer on hand documenting the event (and our every move), made us feel like we were rockstars. At first the photo thing felt somewhat intrusive (seriously, who want’s their picture taken while they are forking food into their mouth?) but the girl taking pictures was really sweet and after a while we just got used to it. By the end of the evening we had developed a strange sort of silently agreed upon diner-as-celebrity ignoring the paparazzi kind of thing with her.

As soon as we were seated we were presented with a “Welcome” drink of fresh squeezed sugarcane, ginger and cayenne pepper. It was marvelous, a true palate cleanser if I ever had one! Sweet, fiery and totally invigorating. There was also a wide assortment of beverages to pick from after that, and they kept our libations coming all evening long.

The first drink I ordered was the ‘Organic Matcha Genmaicha’. A special blend of Genmaicha with matcha powder, described as “a slightly sweet and highly aromatic tea”. Yes and yes. It had a full and earthy taste, warming and cleansing.

Here’s a picture of the organic iced green tea. These glasses were really cool and felt nice to hold in your hand. By the end of the night, after many refills, I was on a major caffeine buzz.

For the first course of soup, I had the ‘Sweet Kabocha Pumpkin Chowder’ made with soy milk. Sweet and mild, I loved it and left the bowl well cleaned.

For the second course appetizer, I went with the ‘Tempeh Bacon & Cashew Cheese Wrap’. Grilled tempeh, cashew cheese, potato salad, alfalfa and mixed greens wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla. This had the potential of being run-of-the-mill but it was actually rather outstanding. The tempeh had the perfect smokey bacon flavor and the cashew cheese dip was just amazing. Nutty and cheesy but still light and fresh tasting.

While my tempeh wrap was the less Japanese of the two appetizer offerings, Your Vegan Mom had the more traditional ‘Shitake Mushroom Genmai Sushi Roll’ with avocado, and it too was most excellentl.

For the third course entree, I was very excited to try the ‘Okara Crab Cake’, “deep fried vegan okara soybean cake with cilantro sauce and kale salad”. I’ve never had real crab cakes before so I can’t compare these to the real thing, but whatever these were meant to taste like, they were amazing. There was no fishy taste, just a perfectly crispy-on-the-outside and chewy-yet-tender-on-the inside pattie of indeterminate yet delicately and screamingly good flavor. The cilantro sauce was exquisite. The kale salad too was wonderful, served with a citrus dressing and topping of oranges and walnuts.

I have since learned the following from the Wikipedia: “Okara or soy pulp is a white or yellowish pulp consisting of insoluble parts of the soybean which remain in the filter sack when pureed soybeans are filtered in the production of soy milk. It is part of the traditional cuisines of Japan, Korea, and China, and since the 20th century has also been used in the vegetarian cuisines of Western nations. On a dry weight basis okara contains 24% protein, 8 to 15% fats,and 12 to 14.5% crude fiber. It contains 17% of the protein from the original soybeans.”

Fancy that!

For the last course of dessert I had the ‘Fuji Apple Tarte with Kinako Custard’ and Your Vegan Mom had ordered the ‘Chocolate Cake with Pecans and Walnuts’.

We all felt that both desserts had room for improvement, but while they weren’t our favorites we all also really appreciated their uniqueness and lovely presentation. I’m sure they’ll work out any kinks on the dessert front and offer some treats that are as outstanding as their main courses. As we were leaving we even each recieved a gift of a rose and a bag of healthy Japanese cookies to take home with us (I loved the cookies).

Overall it was such a lovely experience to get to be among the first try out the wonderful offerings at Shojin. I am certain that they are going to be wildly succesful with their approach of preparing fresh, traditional (yet unique) food and presenting it an elegant environment with outstanding service. Shojin will make a perfect destination for either casual lunches or more formal dinners, romantic dates, birthdays and anniversaries, or really any type of occasion where you want hearty, good and healthy food made by people who really mean it. Be sure to keep any eye on their website (or call) to find out when they’ll be open for business: www.theshojin.com

In a few months from now when everyone’s raving about Shojin on Yelp, Chowhound and the like, don’t forget who gave you the scoop first!

UPDATE: Shojin is now open… go feast!

This past Sunday was a monumental day of fantastic vegan food eating for myself, VegYogini and Your Vegan Mom (let’s just call her Trina). It started off as a beautiful sunny day brunch at the home of Trina with her lovely family and friends. It ended with an amazing dinner at a new (not-yet-open but sure to blow your mind) vegan Japanese restaurant in Little Tokyo. I’ll be telling you all about that special adventure soon, but for now let’s get back to brunch, shall we?

We were greeted first thing at Trina’s to a basket of scrumptious, freshly baked muffins and mimosa. One type of muffin involved apples and all other manner of yummy, the other muffin was carrot… and dang, I don’t really remember what all went into these. In a testament to their awesomeness though I can tell you that I ate them in multiples (and got to bring some home with me too).

VegYogini and I got to lend a helping hand in sectioning grapefruits for a fresh citrus salad with mint and agave nectar.

Trina’s pièce de résistance were these incredible little mini crustless quiches. They were based on the recipe over at the Fat Free Vegan blog but using different veggies. One was made with Swiss chard, the other with sweet potato and roasted Pablano peppers (it’s highly possible that I’m getting the details all wrong, so if Trina is reading this, feel free to correct any errors). Anyhow, these were soooo good! They tasted exactly like an egg quiche but were in fact totally vegan… and totally delicious. I’ve got to try and make these.

Tasty rosemary roasted potatoes.

And here’s my plate bringing it all together…

What a groovy way to spend the day. I highly suggest that you find someone to invite you over to their house for a homemade vegan brunch. Or if you’re up to it, host one yourself. Then invite me.

Check back soon for “Foodeater’s Day of Vegan Feasting, Part 2: Dinner”

Stopping by Vinh Loi Tofu for lunch on a chilly day, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to try out one of their many soups. I couldn’t help but notice their incoming delivery of soybeans at the front door. What makes this a beautiful sight is that Vinh Loi uses only certified non-GMO soybeans. I knew this already (it’s printed on their menu), but seeing the bags stacked up like that at the entrance just made me feel even that much better about having a Vinh Loi addiction. It’s little things like this (well, being dedicated to using only non-GMO foods is not a little thing at all really) that make all the difference.

Of course I had to take a picture, and once I told owner Kevin what a nice thing it was to see that, he got in on the action as well and struck a pose… check out Kevin and his beans!

Now back to the soup, which I know is what you’re really here for. I ordered the #2, “Cari Chay”, which involves: rice noodles in curry broth with soy chicken. Sounds simple but don’t be deceived… this soup is rich, complex and magically delicious.

You can’t really see it all in the photo, but there was all kinds of action going on inside the soup. Along with the expected soy chicken there were also some darker faux-meaty bits floating around which I think was the soy-beef. There was also chunks of tofu, carrots and other veggies and the topping of fresh cilantro.

Served on the side were the rice noodles, bean sprouts and lime to put in the soup. The curried soup flavor was thick and pungent and amazing. Not too spicy but not too mild. All the many flavors and spices were soaked up nicely by the noodles. This is one of those two-fisted meals where you’ll want to go at it with a spoon in one hand and chopsticks in the other. You see, we take eating seriously around here. Proper tools are essential.

Madeleine Bistro in Tarzana is an upscale vegan restaurant that serves organic, seasonal, “pan-ethnic dishes with a decidedly French influence”. I had always wanted to go there, so I was happy to accept an invite by Vegyogini to join her there in attending a local vegan meet-up for brunch. This coincided with my one year vegan anniversary (way to go, me!), so what better way to celebrate it than at one of the fanciest vegan restaurant in town.

First we were all treated to “Beignets with Seasonal Fruit Compote”. I’ve never had beignets before so I have nothing to compare these to, but I can tell you they were really good, tasting to me like a cross between a sugary churro and an apple fritter.

For my meal I ordered “The Skillet”- Scrambled tofu, seasonal vegetables, farmers cheese and home fries. I thought about getting something a bit more decadent, but along with trying to be good by avoiding off-the-hook sort of stuff like french toast, I also figured that at a gourmet restaurant, a simple dish like tofu scramble would probably turn out pretty special.

And yes, it was awfully good. The tofu had a very close-to-the-real-thing scrambled egg consistency and the seasonings were just right. From what I could taste and see, I believe it included some asparagus, shitake mushrooms, sun-dried tomato, tempeh bacon… I could be making some of those up and/or leaving something else out, but whatever, you get the idea- it was delicious. You can see that the home fries were nice, crispy chunks of little potatoes, served with THEIR OWN HOMEMADE KETCHUP.

This brunch was great but apparently their dinner service is where Madeleine Bistro really shines, so I hope to try that out someday too. The vegan meet-up was a nice time, not something I’ve done before so I’m glad I went. I even got to meet some readers of my blog which I didn’t even know I had! (Hi!) There were a lot of us there, 30, maybe 40 people… I don’t think the organizers of the meet-up were expecting a show of more than 20 people at most, but the restaurant staff did a flawless job of accomdating us all.

We got a nice introduction to the owners, Chef David Anderson and his wife Molly Anderson, the general manager. They both come from extensive and impressive backgrounds, including David’s time as Sous Chef at the Inn of the Seventh Ray and Executive Chef at Real Food Daily. They’re both really dedicated to good quality food and veganism, and their excitement and dedication to it is obvious and refreshing. Before going there I’d heard nothing but raving reviews about Madeleine Bistro, now that I’ve been, I can vouch for their good reputation being well deserved.

I’ve written before of my love for Korean style barley tea (Mugicha). I’d heard it was pretty easy to make so I decided to give it a go. I combined what I learned about making it from various online sources, as well as some info I picked up from Alton Brown on his recent Good Eat’s episode on barley.

First I dry roasted the barley in a skillet. I wasn’t sure exactly how much to roast them, so I let them go until they got nice and browned, removing from heat just before they were about to burn.

The roasted barley then went into 2 liters of boiling water, continued to boil for about 3 minutes, then was removed from the heat and left to steep. I also added in about a quarter cup of agave nectar and half a lemons worth of juice.

After steeping for half an hour, I strained the liquid from the barley and set it aside to cool. The cooked barely looked and smelled really good too, I’ll get back to that in minute.

And here’s the result! It came out pretty good for my first try, though it wasn’t exactly like I wanted it to be. I didn’t like the lemon, or maybe I just used too much of it. The lemon idea came from Alton Brown (damn you, Alton!)… next time I make this I’ll leave out the lemon all together and add some in afterwards if I think it needs any. Also the tea had taken on a bit more of the roasted flavor than I would have like, so maybe I did let the barley roast for too long after all. It didn’t taste burned, but the taste had crossed over from a delicate tea flavor to more of a roasted coffee flavor.

Now back to the cooked barley. When cooking barley to eat it should be cooked longer than the half hour I boiled this batch for, but because it was left to steep in the hot water for a while, it got cooked through and was only slightly “al dente”. It had a wonderful nutty scent and the taste of sweet agave nectar had been cooked right in, so instead of wasting it I decided to make a hot cereal out of it.

I added in some rice milk, cinnamon and drizzled on a little bit more agave… and this turned out to be one of the tastiest late night breakfasts I’ve ever accidentally invented by way of making something else.