veganmofo - q&e + thai panang curry bowl

Our prompt for day 3 of veganmofo is quick, easy and delicious.

Right away I knew which recipe I would post!

Panang Curry is our whole family's favorite Thai dish, I kid you not! To think that you can make this curry dish in less than 30 minutes is awesome - but to make the dish into a complete meal is even better, and the icing on the cake.

This recipe appears in Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N), but I couldn't help but share it with you today!

Basically, Thai curry is coconut milk that is cooked into curry paste. The paste can be made of green curry (using fresh green chilies) or  red curry (using dried red chilies). Panang uses red curry paste with the addition of peanut butter.

Because I am aware that red curry paste is difficult to find vegan (some have shrimp or fish sauce), or when found, a little bottle is sold at an outrageous price, I have included a wonderful, fragrant and most of all, easy, Red Curry Paste in Vegan Bowls.

In addition to being easy and delicious, the Red Curry Paste I offer is low in heat. Using more dried Anaheim peppers (a.k.a California chilies) than small red hot chilies is the key to adjusting the heat level of the paste, and, in turn, the heat level of the curry. Not everyone loves a lot of spice, and my recipe offers great flexibility in that department.

The recipe below uses store-bought curry paste, but if you get the book, you will also receive your very own curry paste recipe.

Enjoy this easy and simple vegan bowl!

Thai Panang Curry Bowl
SERVES 4 
This is such a simple recipe that it almost feels like cheating. In addition to being quick, this curry is super flexible; use any variety of vegetables that you please. (Recipe from Vegan Bowls, copyright © 2015 by Zsu Dever. Used by permission from Vegan Heritage Press, LLC.)


QUINOA
1 cup quinoa, rinsed well
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup green peas, thawed if frozen

CURRY
1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk, divided
3 tablespoons red curry paste 
2 tablespoons peanut butter
3 (2-lobed) kaffir lime leaves
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari
1/4 to 1/2 cup water
5 cups coarsely chopped vegetables (carrot, winter squash, summer squash, green beans)
1 cup sliced red bell pepper
Sea salt and black pepper
1/2 cup Thai basil or Genoese basil

SOY-FREE OPTION: Substitute coconut aminos and 1/8 teaspoon sea salt for the tamari.

QUINOA: Heat the quinoa, broth, garlic and salt in a small saucepan. Cover, bring to boil over high heat, reduce to medium-low heat, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes. Fluff with fork and add peas before serving.

CURRY: Heat 1/4 cup coconut milk in a large pot over medium heat. Add the curry paste and cook until the milk reduces a bit, about 1 minute. Add another 1/4 cup of the milk and the peanut butter and cook for another minute. Add the remaining milk, the lime leaves, tamari, and 1/4 cup of water. Add the tough vegetables (carrot, winter squash) and cook for 4 minutes. Add the soft vegetables (summer squash, green beans) and simmer over medium until the vegetables are tender. Add the bell pepper and cook until crisp tender, about 1 minute. Add more water if the curry is too dry. Season with salt and pepper. To serve, divide the curry and quinoa among 4 bowls. Garnish with the basil.

veganmofo - childhood meal + stuffed cabbage bowl

Second day of #veganmofo - childhood meal!

The second suggestion from the folks at veganmofo have us recreating a childhood meal. I love developing Hungarian recipes and have done so in both Everyday Vegan Eats and the upcoming cookbook, Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N).

Everyday Vegan Eats  (Amazon, B&N) contains my most (most!) favorite Stuffed Cabbage recipe, which is a complete throwback to my childhood. I lived in restaurants and one of my parents most popular dishes was Stuffed Cabbage.

At the restaurant, my dad tweaked the Hungarian-style Stuffed Cabbage to be more Jewish-style with the addition of tomato sauce and sweetness. Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage is sour and made with ground meat and rice and a touch of smoke. Jewish-style Stuffed Cabbage contains tomato sauce and is sweet instead of sour.

I grew up with the Jewish-style Stuffed Cabbage, which explains why it appears in Everyday Vegan Eats! And while I completely love that version and  reserve a spot in my heart for it, on special (and only special!) occasions my dad would make the authentic Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage; therefore, now, I am at a loss as to which to pick for this round of mofo! Thanks, Obama!

However, since my publisher pulled my authentic Stuffed Cabbage-style Bowl from Vegan Bowls and the recipe will not be appearing in it, I get to share a freebie bowl recipe with you!

Typically, publishers pull recipes for lack of space, recipe difficulty or recipe length. In this case, I think maybe a little bit of all three was involved. While this bowl recipe is not too difficult, not too lengthy and does not take up too much space, I agree that it is partly a bit of all three and the decision to omit it was the right one.

Having said that, this is the easiest way to make stuffed cabbage, period. A bit more involved in the multi-tasking area, but definitely worth it.

This is a great time to introduce you to black cardamom. Black cardamom is not to be confused with green cardamom as they are night and day. Black cardamom is smoky and earthy and green cardamom is floral and sweet. I've discovered that I like using black cardamom because it brings smokiness to dishes without using liquid smoke. I love that!

Another very important thing to note: you MUST add the vegan sour cream. Make your own whole foods version or buy store-bought, but the sour cream brings the dish together. Without it, I'm afraid disappointment is in store. There is a creamy, sour, and tangy component that this dish desperately needs and cannot fare well without. Even the non-vegan version needs it, so do not skip it.

Stuffed Cabbage-Style Bowl
Unlike the tomato-based stuffed cabbage that we have come to love, Hungarian stuffed cabbage includes very little tomato. Instead, it is full of soured cabbage. In fact, even the cabbage that the rolls are stuffed in is a head of sour cabbage. To bring this traditional dish to a vegan bowl, I combine sauerkraut and green cabbage. Hungarians wouldn’t dream of preparing any dish without sour cream, so to make this bowl complete, I call for vegan sour cream, either store-bought or homemade, using the recipe from the Paprikás recipe.
Serves 4
SFO

Mushrooms:
6 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and cut into 1/8-inch slices
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium tamari
1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Lentils:
3 ½ cups vegetable broth
1 cup green lentils, picked over and rinsed
2 large black cardamoms
2 teaspoons Hungarian paprika
1/2 cup drained sauerkraut

Rice:
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cups long-grain white rice

Lecsó:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, cut into 1/8-inch slices
1 medium bell pepper, cut into 1/8-inch slices
2 medium Roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme
1/2 head small green cabbage, cut into 1/4-inch slices

Sauté:
2 tablespoon whole-wheat pastry or all-purpose flour
1 cup drained sauerkraut
2 teaspoons Hungarian paprika
1 tablespoon olive oil

Vegan sour cream, homemade or store-bought

1. Mushrooms: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Transfer the mushrooms to a baking sheet and bake until considerably shrunk, about 5 minutes. Combine the oil, tamari and paprika in a small bowl and stir into the mushrooms. Stir well and arrange the mushrooms in a single layer. Continue to bake until almost crisp, about 10 to 12 more minutes, stirring midway through cooking. Set aside.
2. Lentils: Combine the broth, lentils, cardamom, paprika and sauerkraut in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil over high heat, reduce to a strong simmer over medium heat and cook until the lentils are tender but not falling apart. Remove and discard the cardamom. Drain and reserve 1 1/4 cups of the cooking broth.
3. Rice: Heat the water and salt over high heat in a small saucepan. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and add the rice. Cook the rice until tender. Drain and set aside.
4. Lecsó: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the bell pepper, cover and cook until softened, about 4 more minutes. Add a splash of water or broth if needed, and add the tomato, garlic and thyme. Cook until the tomato breaks down, an additional 4 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook to wilt, about for 3 minutes.
5. Saute: Reduce the heat to medium and add the flour and stir until well incorporated. Add the drained rice, the reserved broth from the lentil, the sauerkraut and the paprika. Stir well and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the reserved lentils, drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of oil and continue to simmer for an additional 3 minutes.
6. Assembly: Serve the cabbage sauté in bowls, garnished with vegan sour cream and the bacon mushrooms. 

Quick tip: Preheat the oven to 425°F right away. Heat the broth for the lentils and the water for the rice right away. First chop the onions and then begin chopping the mushrooms while the onion cooks. Chop the bell pepper while the onion cooks. Chop the tomato and cabbage while the bell pepper cooks. 

Soy-Free Option: Substitute coconut aminos with a few pinches of sea salt for the tamari.

Substitute: Substitute 1/2 teaspoon of liquid smoke for the black cardamom.


 © 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

veganmofo - breakfast

First day of #veganmofo - Vegan Month of Food! I know that many people across the vegan blogosphere await the return of veganmofo with bated breath. In fact, many folks prepare their themes and even begin writing posts well before the arrival of the month.

This year the mofoers threw a wrench into well-laid plans and changed the rules, shaking things up quite a bit! The narration has changed a bit and now each day comes with its own unique suggestion of what to post.

The first day's suggestion is breakfast. As soon as I saw that, I knew that my first post would be about the breakfast options in my new cookbook, Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N).

This is amazingly exciting for me because breakfast/brunch is always the more challenging meal of the day because aside from standard go-to ideas - cereal, pancakes, waffles, bagels, oatmeal, granola, scrambles -  there is not much of a shake-up.

For Vegan Bowls I pulled all the punches and went around the world to bring you unique breakfast bowls - bowls that maybe you haven't come across or ones that we might not think are traditional breakfast fare, yet they nourish people around the globe.

Take, for instance, Ful Medames Breakfast Bowl. This fava bean bowl is a daily breakfast bowl in the Middle East and North Africa. It is a staple breakfast bowl served with pita bread and a quick radish salad. This stuff is addictive!

From Asia comes THIS typical breakfast/brunch meal: Congee.

Congee is a rice porridge that can be as plain as just the rice cooked in water, to something dazzling and complex with the rice cooked in broth and topped with a variety of extras, such as fried tofu, marinated tempeh, scallions, fried garlic slices, scallions and ginger.

Find out how to make this breakfast in under 30 minutes - a dish that normally needs to cook for about an hour.

Back from my homeland, I bring you this Hungarian Breakfast Bowl, complete with a Hungarian scramble, sausage-style mushrooms and roasted tomatoes. Served with some crisp rye toast, you will be in-the-know with these delicious Hungarian breakfast flavors.

Quinoa has been a staple in South America for eons - they knew long before we did the benefits and nutritious qualities of this tiny pseudocereal.

This mildly sweet take on the normally savory quinoa will have you making it again and again for breakfast. I pair quinoa with oranges, nuts, cardamom and pears. These ingredients all harmonize, and when you make it, you'll see why.

From Mexico, I re-create Huevos Rancheros, an egg-based dish with corn tortillas and ranchero sauce. This one is out of this world and I am very proud to say that I have finally (after years!) got it to taste just right.

In all, there are 12 delectable Breakfast Bowls in Vegan Bowls. Want to see the other recipes in this chapter?

I can honestly say that I love them ALL! I can also testify to the fact that breakfast at our house is no longer a dilemna.

Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N) will be released September 15 - in the middle of MoFo! A little more than two weeks off! Eeek! Exciting!!

indonesian stir-fried noodle bowl from "vegan bowls" + #2

These are a few of my favorite things...about Vegan Bowls:

Over the next few weeks, I will share with you my most favorite aspects of my new cookbook, Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N).

#2.
My next most favorite aspect of Vegan Bowls is that all of the recipes are on one page (except for a few that have substitution suggestions spill over to the next facing page).

This is really important since the recipes contain no sub-recipes needing to be made first. This means that once you turn to the recipe you want to make, there will be no further page turning needed to complete the dish.

My publisher and I really worked hard on making this a reality - especially since these are complete meals! Complete meals that you can prepare without any sub-recipes or page turning. I love this concept when I cook for my own family and I wanted to bring that uniqueness to this special book.

If you missed it, Reason #1 is posted HERE.

Below I am sharing my recipe for Indonesian Stir-fried Noodle Bowl from Vegan Bowls and felt it was appropriate to let you see the rest of the Chapter 5: Pastas. This chapter includes 14 delicious pasta recipes, including recipes from Europe, Asia and regions of the U.S.

If you have heard of the Laos dish of larb and have been wanting to make an authentic vegan version - look no further than Vegan Bowls. The Reuben Mac and Cheese is my homage to Tami Noyes of Vegan Sandwiches Saves the Day and the upcoming cookbook, The Great Vegan Grains Book (Amazon, B&N).

The list really goes on and on and not a single recipe is your ordinary, run-of-the-mill vegan renditions of pasta dishes. After you peruse the list, get in the kitchen and make the stir-fried noodle bowl below. It is quick and so, so good!

Indonesian Stir-Fried Noodle Bowl
SERVES 4
Mei goreng or bami goreng is a popular street food all over Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. It is a sweet and spicy dish of noodles fried with vegetables and eggs. The sauce usually calls for kecap manis, a thick, sweet sauce, but here we will make our own sauce using tamari, mirin, fresh ginger, and garlic. (Recipe from Vegan Bowls,  copyright © 2015 by Zsu Dever. Used by permission from Vegan Heritage Press, LLC.)


NOODLES
8 ounces medium-thickness brown rice noodles

SAUCE
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup reduced-sodium tamari
1/4 cup mirin
1 tablespoon sambal oelek, or to taste
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon natural sugar

VEGETABLES
1/4 cup vegetable broth, divided
1 small red onion, cut into 1/8-inch slices
3 cups small broccoli florets
3 cups finely shredded cabbage
1 celery rib, cut into 1/8-inch slices
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil or vegetable broth
6 ounces baby kale or baby spinach
1 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed in a bowl of hot water and drained

NOODLES: Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Add the noodles and cook just shy of al dente, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes. Drain the noodles and cool under running water. Set aside.

SAUCE: Combine the broth, tamari, mirin, sambal oelek, ginger, garlic, and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.

VEGETABLES: Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of broth and the onion. Stir and cook until the onion is browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from the skillet and set aside in a medium bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of broth to the skillet. Add the broccoli. Stir and cook until the broccoli begins to char, about 2 minutes. Add the cabbage, celery, garlic and 1 tablespoon of broth. Stir and cook until the cabbage begins to char, about 2 more minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside with the onion. Add the sauce to the skillet and simmer until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add the oil or 2 more tablespoons of broth, the kale, the edamame, the reserved noodles, and the reserved vegetables. Stir and cook until the pasta is warmed through and beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with more sambal oelek and tamari. Serve hot in bowls.

marengo bowl

Because Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N) is so close to release (September 15!), I can't seem to get bowl dishes off my mind. Although this recipe, Marengo Bowl, is not in the book, creating more and more bowl foods these days seems to be my norm as they are easy, complete - in terms of starch, vegetable and protein - and convenient.

I am a sucker for re-creating classic recipes as authentically as is vegan-ly possible, and Marengo is no exception to this self-imposed rule.

Legend has it that Chicken Marengo was created to celebrate Napoleon's Battle of Marengo in the 1800's. After the victory, Napoleon's chef searched the village for ingredients fit for his highness and found chicken, eggs, crayfish, tomato and wine. Napoleon loved the dish so much that he insisted on eating it before each battle, believing it would bring him good luck.

So the legend goes. How much truth there is in the story is debated by historians, but the dish does exist and I am here to make it into a vegan culinary dream.

The most difficult aspect of this dish to veganize is the fried egg, which is served sunny side up as the egg yolk adds a "sauce" to the chicken stew. I decided to use a quick vegan Hollandaise sauce to add that extra sauciness and flavor.

While the mushrooms (if we are to believe the original tale) were added much later, it has become synonymous with Marengo. In addition to regular mushrooms in the stew itself, I decided to add grilled trumpet mushrooms (also know as king oyster mushrooms) because they are substantial and have a light reminiscence of seafood flavor - not as much as the regular oyster mushrooms, but very adequate in replacing the crayfish, or shrimp that is a popular addition these days. If unavailable, use protobellos.

Get the recipe below and don't forget to enter to win Kittee Berns' amazing Ethiopian cookbook, Teff Love, HERE.

Marengo Bowl

Serves 4

Hollandaise: 3 tablespoons vegan mayo 2 tablespoons unsweetened plain vegan milk 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice ½ teaspoon dijon mustard ⅛ teaspoon ground turmeric Pinch cayenne Sea salt and ground black pepper Sautee: 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 medium onion, sliced thin 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained 2 garlic cloves, sliced ½ teaspoon dried thyme ½ teaspoon dried oregano 1 bay leaf 8 ounces crimini or button mushrooms, quartered 1 cup dry marsala or sherry 1 (15 - 18 ounce) can whole tomatoes, crushed by hand ½ cup water ½ cup sliced black olives Grill: 4 trumpet (or king oyster) mushrooms, trimmed and cut into ½-inch thick slices 2 teaspoons olive oil Cooked rice, as needed 2 tablespoons minced parsley. 1. Hollandaise: Combine the mayo, milk, juice, mustard, turmeric and cayenne in a small microwave-safe bowl. Whip with a whisk to combine and season with salt and black pepper. When needed, warm in a microwave in 20 second intervals until heated through. 2. Sautee: Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, chickpeas, garlic, thyme, oregano, bay and season with salt and black pepper. Cover and cook until the onions and chickpeas are lightly golden, about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the onion and beans and set aside. Increase the heat to medium-high and add the mushrooms. Cook until lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the tomatoes, water and reserved onions and beans and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes. Add the olives and a 2 to 3 tablespoons of water if the sautee is too dry. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. 3. Grill: Heat a grill pan over medium heat. Combine the trumpet mushrooms, olive oil and salt and black pepper, to taste, in a medium bowl. Toss to combine. Grill the mushrooms until tender, 3 minutes per side in the covered grill pan. turning the mushrooms a quarter turn after 2 minutes. 4. Assembly: Serve the sauce over the cooked rice in shallow bowls. Garnish with a few slices of grilled mushrooms, hollandaise sauce and parsley. Serve.

© 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

roasted zucchini and mushroom pilaf bowl from "vegan bowls" + #1

These are a few of my favorite things...about Vegan Bowls:

Over the next few weeks, I will share with you my most favorite aspects of my new cookbook, Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N).

#1. 
This first aspect simply has to be at the top of my list. You might think that number one is how wonderful the recipes are (which they are!) or how fast a complete meal can be to make (which it can be!), but, in fact, it is a simple thing that a lot of modern cookbooks don't have: no cross-referencing recipes.

There are no recipes within recipes, except for convenience ingredients such as seitan and curry paste.

That is correct - you can cook a complete meal without having to prepare another recipe first. It really bears repeating:

Complete meals without the need for secondary recipes.

I own my share of super amazing cookbooks, written by some super amazing authors, but the nitty-gritty is that either recipes-within-recipes are required or the recipes themselves are not complete meals unto themselves.

Certainly, a few exceptions are of note, such as dinner salads, a few casseroles and soups, but even then, most need supplemental components to make them a complete meal.

I took great care in making sure that all the recipes in this volume are stand-alone and need no other sub-recipes.

Of course, for your convenience, I have included a few basic recipes for ease, economy and superior flavor, but no basic recipe is a "requirement" for making any of the bowls in the book.

While I include recipes for seitan, vegetable broth, red curry paste and tortillas, they can be store-bought and need not be home-made.

I know how important it is to see the Table of Contents of cookbooks before you purchase one, therefore, over the next few weeks I will be sharing the contents of Vegan Bowls with you, chapter by chapter. Below is the content of the grains chapter:

Today I am sharing with you the recipe for one of my favorite bowls in book: Roasted Zucchini and Mushroom Pilaf Bowl. Pilaf has been one of my favorite dishes ever since my younger days working at Baker's Square Restaurant where they had a delicious pilaf recipe.

Naturally, with age and wisdom you realize that that particular pilaf wasn't quite up to snuff and, indeed, a lot of improvement was possible.

With this recipe, I bring you all the love I have for the pilaf, with the addition of some knock-down great flavor -- again, all in a complete bowl. I highly recommend using a toaster oven for the vegetables, if you have one; it keeps the kitchen cooler in the summer.

Hope you enjoy!

oh! If you haven't already entered or own Kittee Berns' fabulous Ethiopian cookbook, Teff Love, enter to win a copy HERE.

Roasted Zucchini and Mushroom Pilaf Bowl

SERVES 4

It is no surprise that I love to roast vegetables; it always seems to bring out the best in produce. In this recipe, zucchini and mushrooms are roasted to perfection and stirred into a quinoa pilaf that is accented with scallions and arugula. . (Recipe from Vegan Bowls, copyright © 2015 by Zsu Dever. Used by permission from Vegan Heritage Press, LLC.)

ROAST

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

4 garlic cloves, minced

8 ounces cremini or button mushrooms, wiped clean and quartered

2 medium zucchini, quartered and cut into 3/4-inch slices

1 cup corn kernels, thawed and drained if frozen

QUINOA

1 1/4 cups vegetable broth

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup quinoa, well rinsed

2 garlic cloves, crushed

PASTA

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup orzo

2 cups water

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

GREENS

3 cups baby arugula or watercress

2 scallions, minced

1/2 to 1 serrano chile, minced

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

ROAST: Preheat the oven to 450°F. Combine the oil, salt and garlic on a baking sheet. Add the mushroom, zucchini, and corn. Mix well and bake until tender and roasted, about 20 minutes, stirring midway through cooking time. If you have more time, roast until the corn is golden, an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Keep warm.

QUINOA: Heat the broth, salt, quinoa and garlic in a large pot. Cover, bring to boil over high heat, reduce to medium-low heat and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes to steam. Fluff with fork and set aside.

PASTA: Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the orzo and cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown. Add the water and salt and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and cook until tender, 7 to 9 minutes. Drain and set aside.

GREENS: Add the orzo to the cooked quinoa. Add the roasted vegetables to the quinoa. Add the arugula, scallions, serrano and lemon juice. Stir well, taste and adjust seasoning with salt and black pepper.

announcing "vegan bowls"

I am so, SO excited to announce that the final cover for my new cookbook, Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N), is official and the book is at the printers! The book is currently on sale and ready for pre-order at the ridiculously low price of $10 plus change on Amazon (not sure how long that'll last!).

Vegan Bowls came about while I was writing Everyday Vegan Eats (Amazon, B&N). During my work on that project, while I was writing, and rewriting and developing and correcting, I realized that we were ordering take-out a lot more than when I had a more luxurious amount of time to cook.

This turn of events that I had taken for granted surprised me as I have/had been a homeschooling mom of three for 15 years, with the option to begin dinner at 4 or 5 or 6 - solely dependent on my whim and the circumstances. All of a sudden, I needed dinner on the table even before I realized dinner-time had already arrived.

Turns out, I not only needed dinner on the table quickly, but it needed to be a complete meal. That's where bowls came to the rescue. Bowl meals are complete meals served in the convenience of a bowl.  That means starch, vegetable and protein, all in one serving vessel.

After much recipe research and development, I am proud to deliver this collection of around 99 delicious COMPLETE meals in a beautiful volume, published by Vegan Heritage Press.

To give you a little idea of the recipes offered in Vegan Bowls, here are some tease shots:

I'll be posting recipes from Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N) in the coming weeks and will, of course, have giveaways for this book and other books I happen to love. Stay tuned!

I hope you will see why I'm so crazy excited about this book - flavorful recipes, great tips on getting you in and out of the kitchen in record time, all while preparing healthy, complete meals!

meatball banh mi + vegan fish sauce

By now, if you haven't heard of the Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwich, you have been missing out on a fantastic sub - which is basically what it is, a sub sandwich with an Asian twist and, most notably, fish sauce.



Banh Mi can be composed of sliced meats, tofu, pate or, as in the case of this recipe, meatballs.

Banh Mi Burgers from EVE, page 90

There is a great Banh Mi burger recipe in Everyday Vegan Eats (page 90) and I participated in last year's Vegan MoFo with a different burger and now I offer this magnificent vegan meatball Banh Mi.

All three components of the sandwich can be prepared ahead of time and reheated when needed.

An essential components of any good banh mi is fish sauce. I've searched up and down for a good vegan fish sauce recipe, but they are typically nothing more than soy sauce and sugar, unfortunately without the culinary funk that is so distinctive of the original.

During recipe development of Vegan Bowls, I needed a good replacement for fish sauce to make the dishes truly great. Ultimately, the recipe for vegan fish sauce became part of the recipes themselves, and the actual vegan fish sauce recipe was skipped.

Since Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N) is ready for pre-order (currently at the low price of $10+change from Amazon), I wanted to share the sauce recipe with you.

I've developed two versions, one that uses doenjang, Korean fermented soybean paste, and the other that uses liquid from jarred capers. The capers idea originated with my spilling a bottle of capers on the counter and a little bell going off. Then one of my fabulous testers, Liz of Cooking the Vegan Books, confirmed my hunch that she, too, has used it as a sub; I instantly knew I was on the right track as she is a globetrotter and quite familiar with authentic Asian cuisine.

Following the vegan fish sauce recipe is the Meatball Banh Mi recipe, a fusion of Italian and Vietnamese. Since the banh mi itself is a fusion of French and Vietnamese, because of the French influence during its colonization period, it only makes sense that influences from other countries are a good fit for a banh mi fusion.

Zsu's Vegan Fish Sauce

Makes ¼ cup

Version 1:

3 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari

2 teaspoons caper brine liquid

½ teaspoon sea salt

Combine the water, tamari, caper liquid and salt. Mix well to combine. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Caper brine liquid is the liquid from a bottle of capers.

Version 2:

4 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari

1 teaspoon doenjang

¼ teaspoon sea salt

Combine the water, tamari doenjang and salt in a small blender. Blend well. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Doenjang is Korean fermented soybean paste. It is available on Amazon.

© 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

Meatball Banh Mi

Serves 4

Sauce:

1 tablespoon neutral oil

1 small onion, minced

½ teaspoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 (18-ounce) jar whole tomatoes

1 ¼ cup vegetable broth

Slurry of ½ cup vegetable broth mixed with 2 teaspoons tapioca starch

2 tablespoons Zsu’s Vegan Fish Sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

Pickles:

½ cup hot water

1 tablespoon sugar

¾ teaspoon sea salt

½ cup seasoned rice vinegar

1 medium onion, sliced

2 small carrots, cut into julienne slices

6 large radishes, cut into julienne slices

Meatballs:

2 tablespoons neutral oil

1 medium onion, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium zucchini, grated (about 14 ounces)

1 (8-ounce) can water chestnuts, rinsed and drained, minced

2 tablespoons vegan oyster sauce

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 cup oat flour

½ cup chickpea flour

½ cup vital wheat gluten

2 tablespoons tapioca starch

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Hoagie rolls, toasted

Jalapenos slices, cilantro sprigs

Sauce:

Heat the oil in a medium saucepot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and oregano. Cook until golden, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook 30 more seconds. Add the tomatoes and broth and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and cook 25 minutes. Blend the sauce using an immersion blender and add the slurry, fish sauce and sugar. Season with salt and black pepper. Set aside, but keep warm.

Pickles:

Combine the water, sugar and salt in a quart mason jar and mix until the sugar dissolves. Add the vinegar and mix. Add the onion, carrots and radishes. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes. Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

Meatballs:

1. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until golden, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and mix in the zucchini, water chestnuts, oyster sauce, sugar, flours, gluten, tapioca, salt and black pepper. Mix well and set aside for 10 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 350-degrees F. Form the mixture into balls about the size of walnuts and bake on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake the balls for 30 minutes, flipping them halfway through.

3. Transfer the baked balls to the sauce, return the sauce to simmer and cook the balls until tender.

Assembly:

Serve the balls on the toasted hoagie rolls, garnished with cilantro, jalapeno and pickled vegetables. Serve with additional sauce for dipping.  

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