suma veggie cafe (MoFo 12)

Mongolian TVP

I will start by saying that this one is for Veg Spinz, who recommended Chinese Take-Out. While I wholeheartedly wanted to do as she suggested - little Chinese take-out boxes and almond cookies - time caught up with me and the props fell through the cracks. I thank her for the idea and apologize for my lack of follow through. So, do me a favor and go see her site. It is worth it - she is one creative woman!

Where to go for veg Chinese food, you may wonder, since they are in about every city I've lived in (excluding maybe this one, but I haven't look well enough, yet). The one I shall highlight is our favorite in the country, and I think we've been to at least 20 vegetarian Chinese places: Veggie Heaven in Austin, Enjoy in San Fran, Loving Hut (does this qualify) in Orlando, Lucky Creation in San Fran, Shangri-La in San Fran, veg places in D.C. area whose names I can't recall, Veggie Garden in Dallas, etc.

By far our favorite is Suma in Richardson, TX, near Dallas. People who eat here, even die-hard omnivores, love the food. Unfortunately, the criticism by far is toward the owners. They are an old couple. The husband is a little tough, but our family never had any problems with them. In fact, we totally love them! The hubby reminds me of my mom who got very irate if you came in and sat at a dirty table - or didn't tip appropriately. I remember a time when she gave back a tip someone left. It was a quarter and my mom told the woman that she probably needed it more since she couldn't seem to give appropriately.  

This is a great point. As vegetarians and vegans, we need to tip well. Not only do we represent a group of people who need to be seen in a good light, but vegetarian food costs less so if we tip according to the 15% rule, our servers are left with a worse tip and a bad taste in their mouths about veg folks. 

If you can't afford to tip, you can't afford to eat out. 

Which is a great segue for my Make at Home meal from a Chinese restaurant.

Lo Mein. Not much to say about this. Noodles. Vegetables. Mouth watering flavor.

General Tso's Chicken is an invention of Americans, whether they were Chinese-Americans or not, it simply does not exist in China. Nonetheless, it is one of the most popular dishes on Chinese menus. They are deep fried chicken pieces with a spicy sauce. At Suma the sauce is very garlicky, too, which we instantly fell in love with. 

Mongolian Beef is also deep-fried, but it can be stir fried. It is thin pieces of beef coated with cornstarch and is stir fried with green onions. This also has a sauce, but it isn't as thick as the Tso's one. I made a How-To Breakdown for this dish.

I made the Tso's with Tender Seitan and the Mongolian Beef with Dixie Diner's Club TVP, but they are interchangeable.

Both meat-style dishes turned out excellent. It was great to have a little piece of Suma to consume today.

Cost Breakdown:

lo mein:

noodles: $3

vegetables: $4

tamari, sauce ingredients: $1.50

Total to make 8 servings:

$8.50

Tso's:

seitan, cashew, milk, oil: $4

garlic: $1

sauce, ginger, chillies: $2

Total to make 6 servings:

$7.00

Mongolian:

TVP: $4

cornstarch: $1

sauce: $2

green onions: $2

Total to make 4 servings:

$9.00

Lo Mein

General Tso's Seitan

Lo Mein Recipe

GENERAL TSO PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

Mongolian Recipe

How-To Breakdown for Mongolian

outback (MoFo 11)

After making these dishes from Outback, it is no wonder that this restaurant is at the top of the 'Worst Food for You," list. The restaurant conveniently places a calorie-nutritional value calculator on their website so you can see exactly how many calories you are shoveling in. The only additional thing they should add next is something to calculate the next pants size you will need after eating their creations.

Here we go:

The Bloomin' Onion is vastly popular. So much so that you can purchase a gadget set that will assist you in cutting the onion and dipping it in the batter. I've only seen them. To purchase one takes too much commitment, too much dedication to constant frying. 

Naturally, this was a hit. It takes a little finesse to cut the onion just right (without aforementioned gadget) and to get it coated well. I have created a How-To Breakdown for this, just in case you look at the pic and must have one of your own. It is great to do this with a large onion (~3/4#), but I tackled it with a small one because I figured it is easier for everyone to obtain a smaller onion than a larger one. The dip is a mayo-based concoction.

Now for the main meal: Outback's menu is 60% beef, but they manage to torture a few birds as well. I chose the Alice Sprigs Chicken to reinvent because it is a signature dish of theirs and, let's face it, it is covered in cheese. I must be too close to the Wisconsin border. 

And to accompany the bird, I present to you Outback's-and-possibly-the-world's-worst-food-only-being-beaten-by-KFC's-Double-Down (but that's another post): 

The Aussie Fries

Deep fried potatoes (you know, the kind that the public school system considers a vegetable), covered with a fair amount of salt, bathed in two different cheeses, and topped with crushed bacon.

Eh, yum..?

I used a mixture of shredded Daiya and Follow Your Heart Cheddar, but success can be had by using any bought or homemade nondairy cheese. To melt the cheese on both the chick'n and the fries, microwaving is your best bet; broiling does not melt vegan cheese as well as you would like - ooey, gooey. Nuke it.

Who is it who gets paid to think up stuff like this? The chicken is marinated in a honey-mustard sauce, grilled and topped with sauteed mushrooms, bacon (more?), and cheese.

 I used Tender Seitan cutlets, marinated them in maple-Dijon sauce, topped with sauteed mushrooms and Tofu (or Seitan) Bacon [see this post for the recipe and How-To Breakdown for the 'bacon'), and melted the Daiya/Follow Your Heart cheeses on it.

Making one or the other here and there is doable and even tasty (vegan, that is), but to have all three in one sitting at Outback can be downright dangerous!

To make me feel better, I am giving away Skinny Bitch in the Kitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. It is an adorable little book packed with recipes. To enter, just leave a comment. Contest ends around midnight on Tuesday morning, Nov. 23, and is open to North American and UK residents.

Cost Breakdown:

onion:

onion: $2

flour, spices: $1

cashew, almond milk: $1

dip: $1

Total to make 2 onions:

$4.00

fries:

fries: $3

FYH/Daiya: $2

'bacon': $1

Total to make 4 servings:

$6.00

chick'n:

seitan: $3

Daiya/FYH: $2

Dijon, veganaise, maple: $2

'bacon': $2

mushrooms: $3

Total to make 5 servings:

$12.00

Bloomin' Onion

Alice Sprigs Chick'n Plate



Aussie Chick'n



Aussie Fries

Bloomin' Onion Recipe

AUSSIE FRIES PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

Alice Sprigs Chick'n Recipe

How-To Bloomin' Onion

How-To for Outback