greens (MoFo 10)

Greens is a renowned San Francisco fixture, on the bayside in Fort Mason. It is a vegetarian restaurant that has been patronized since 1979. Although it is vegetarian, vegans can find something to eat, albeit not as easily as their more frequent customers.

The restaurant boasts Chef Annie Sommerville, who daily chooses her menu based on the local offerings. The food is fresh, vibrant, local and delicious. It is time some of those wonderful dishes were veganized.

My first choice is a squash soup. I had given up on making any sort of squash soup, but since my CSA brought me squash and it has been almost a year since I've thrown in my squash towel, I figured I could give it another try; especially using a recipe from Greens. The soup is Kabocha Squash and Chestnut Soup. Outstanding. Finally a squash soup we liked. Maybe the secret was in the chestnuts or the stock the squash was cooked in or just because it was a kobacha squash...regardless, a winner.

Tarts and Filo pastries are a signature of Greens so I made their Red Onion, Goat Cheese and Walnut Tart. Goat cheese I had none of, but I did need to simulate the tartness, sharpness, and creaminess that it affords. I used a combination of Better Than Sour Cream and B.T. Cream Cheese with a splash of lemon juice. Nice crunch from the nuts, sweetness from the onions and creaminess from the nondairy sour cream and cream cheese. The tart dough was easy to make and turned out crispy and light.

I decided to make another dessert, since they use eggs and dairy. Another signature item on the menu is the Ginger Cake. The original recipe is a pound cake and calls for 6 eggs. I replaced the eggs with well whipped ener-G egg replacer and increased the bake time by about a half hour - it needed it. I also made poached cherries using dried cherries in a simple syrup that was decadent with the cake. 

My hubby worked almost next door to Greens in San Fran and while difficult to find something vegan right off the menu, what we did have was delicious. It was great to have now some of the dishes we couldn't have then.

And now for the cookbook, Sinfully Vegan, winner. I removed me from the count and the few who did not want to be entered in the contest for a total of 10 entrees. According to random.org, the comment from Tender Branson is the winner. 

Thanks everyone for participating. Another contest on Friday or Saturday. 

Cost Breakdown:

soup:

squash, chestnuts: $6

stock, herbs: $1.50

Total to make 7 servings;

$7.50

tarts:

dough: $1.50

onion, nuts, spices: $2.50

Better Than sour cream and cream cheese: $3

Total to make 8 tarts:

  $7.00

cake:

Earth Balance: $2.50

flour, baking powder: $1.50

sugar: $2

cherries, vanilla, lemon: $3

Total to make 8 servings:

$9.00

Squash and Chestnut Soup

Tart

Ginger Cake

Winter Squash and Chestnut Soup Recipe

Dough for Tarts Recipe

red robin (MoFo 9)

Red Robin is an American Burger joint which happens to be all over the U.S. While not veg they do serve Boca burgers (vegan) and Gardenburger (vegetarian). While all that is well and fine, sometimes a stomach gets to hunger for one of those fancy-pants burgers, sans dairy and eggs but with the authentic flavors still intact.

As an appetizer, we are quite partial to jalapenos and making them into golden little Jalapeno Coins is very appealing. I mean, who doesn't want a few extra coins to toss around? I made mine with pickled jalapeno slices, but you can use fresh jalapenos or ones that aren't pickled. I made a simple tempura-beer batter (anything with beer is better, right?) and fried them to a crisp. Yumm.

Choosing the burger was more challenging, they have so many, but I picked one that isn't really a burger, even by their definition, but a chicken sandwich. I replaced the chicken with an Amy's Quarter Pounder (a little sweeter than the Bocas - be warned) and made the Bruschetta Chicken Sandwich into a Vegan Bruschetta Burger. This one has a pesto-aioli, tomato, onion and basil salsa, cheeze (Daiya in this case), balsamic cream on a ciabatta roll. Yumm.

Going to Red Robin is not really complete without those aromatic Garlic Fries. Make the steak fries as you would make any crispy fries (using the double fry method) and coat it with your premade garlic oil. Yumm.

Lastly, since it has been so long since I've made anything sweet, I made the Mountain High Mud Pie. Unfortunate Red Robin customers can only get this dessert with chocolate and vanilla ice cream, but us brilliant vegans can use any combination that we find tasty. I used Prailine Crunch Almond Dream and Chocolate Almond Dream. In addition to the ice cream, it has a layer of crushed cookies, peanut butter and chocolate syrup. I used Rice Whip for the whip cream but you can do without it. This was a double Yumm.

Cost Breakdown

coins:

jalapenos: $3

flour: $1

beer, baking powder: $1

Total to make apps for 4:

$5.00

burger:

Amy's burger: $6

Daiya: $2

lettuce, tomato, onion, basil: $2

veganaise, vinegar, pine nuts, garlic: $1.50

ciabatta: $4

potatoes: $3

Total to make 4 burgers:

$18.50

(each of these sandwiches at RR is $11.50)

pie:

Almond Dreams: $8

cookies: $2

chocolate: $1

peanut butter: $1

Rice Whip: $3

Total to make 5 giant servings:

$15.00



Jalapeno Coins



Bruschetta Burger



Mountain High Mud Pie

JALAPEÑO COINS PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

Bruschetta Burger Recipe

MOUNTAIN HIGH MUD PIE PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

cinnabon + auntie anne's pretzels (MoFo 8)

Today we are hitting the sweet spots. Not only is the cookbook giveaway Sinfully Vegan by Lois Dieterly, but to kick it off we are making Cinnabon's HUGE cinnamon roll and Auntie Anne's Pretzel.

Both are made with a sweet dough and both are gigantic. Here are two more reasons that getting a bread maker is smart, it is not just for whole wheat bread and seitan! So if ever you see a great buy on a bread machine, do yourself a favor.

The Cinnabon bakes up at three and a half inches on each side and three inches tall. Oh, yeah! Filled with brown sugar and cinnamon, this is one of those treats that is a pain to walk past in malls, but walk we must since they contain eggs and dairy. Now put your boots on because we are walking all over Cinnabon - right up to the oven to grab one of these delectable, gooey sweets. Pop the dough in your bread machine and when it has risen, roll out, sprinkle with the filling, roll up and cut large. 

Auntie Anne's Pretzels dough is just as easy: throw the ingredients in your machine, when it has risen, roll the dough into 8 - three feet long ropes. Dip in baking soda water, spray with oil and bake for 10 minutes. These beauties bake up to be almost six inches wide. Couldn't be easier. Or tastier. At least I think they were since they were all gone by the time I was done in the kitchen.

To win the cookbook, just comment. Tell me something that you like or don't like about mall food. Contest ends on Tuesday night, Nov. 16 and is open to US, Canada, Mexico and UK residents.

Cost Breakdown:

rolls:

flour, milk: $3

yeast, cinnamon, sugar: $2

Better Than Cream Cheese: $.50

Earth Balance: $.50

Total to make 8 rolls:

$6.00

pretzels:

flour, yeast: $2.50

baking soda, cinnamon, sugar: $3

Total to make 8 pretzels:

$5.50

Cinnabon

Auntie Anne's Pretzels



mother's cafe and garden (MoFo 7)

Mother's Cafe and Garden is located in Austin, TX. Anyone who has traveled through the great beef state knows that Austin is the haven for vegetarians in a sea of meat-aholics. I even think they have their burgers with a side of beef.

Anyway, that is what it was like back a decade ago when we lived there. As with all places things change and there were some unfortunate turn of events concerning the veg establishments there. One was that Mother's Cafe burned down. Since then they have rebuilt, but after being open since 1985, they had to keep their doors closed for eight months during the refurbishment. Boy, we're gone for a few years and the whole place falls apart!

This was the very first place we frequented as newly indoctrinated vegans. Although the place is vegetarian, they have very strict sanitary practices regarding segregating vegetarian instruments and cooking vessels with vegan ones. Looking back now, I realize we were the 'vegan police,' and such vigilance is best reserved for omni restaurants, but for what we were looking for then, they certainly fit the bill.

They are not high end, have reasonable prices and pretty good food. So if in Texas, you know what city to aim to get to.

Starting with a drink, the Iced Hibiscus-Mint tea is a must. Hibiscus not only is reported to lower blood pressure, but tastes refreshing with the mint. No sweetener was ever required by me - the complimentary flavors of the tea were enough without having to mask it with sugar.

On to the Garden Patch Salad. This was my first taste of sunflower sprouts and it made me try to grow them myself. Not as easy to grow as alfalfa sprouts, they are worth the extra effort. Let me tell you about the Cashew Tamari dressing! I must have spent at least a pound of cashews trying to get the flavor just right so we can have it at home (we weren't exactly next to Mother's, you see). 

The Chili Rellenos alas were filled with cheese and we never got to try them, but that is only extra impetus to make them vegan. Rellenos are poblano peppers (usually) that have been roasted, skinned and seeded. They are then stuffed with cheese, covered in an egg batter and fried. I stuffed mine with Native Chi's that I made for Native Foods menu mixed with black beans. The Native Chi's melted (yay!), but you can use Daiya or Follow Your Heart or any cheese from the Uncheese Cookbook. They will melt. I advise against using only cheese (even dairy) since it is just too much. 

The batter is really the most challenging part. It has fry light and not leave the relleno oily. My version was very good and I was very happy that we could have a relleno again. I think it does need more testing since the authentic version uses whipped eggs and just like flan or sunny side up eggs, eggs are eggs and I am not mother nature. Although, I certainly pretend to be sometimes!

Lastly, I couldn't omit my oldest daughter's favorite dish at Mother's: Sage Mashed Potatoes. Go light on the sage since it can be overpowering, but make sure not to add so little that the flavor is not evident.

Cost Breakdown:

hibiscus tea, mint: $1

Salad:

carrot, cuke, tomato, onion: $2

lettuce, purple cabbage: $3

tamari, cashew, balsamic, oil: $2

sprouts: $2

Total to make 4 servings:

$9.00

Relleno:

poblano: $4

cheese: $1

tomato, onion, garlic: $2

black beans: $2

ener-G, cashew, flour: $1.50

Total to make 4 servings:

$10.50

Potatoes, milk, sage: $4

Hibiscus-Mint Tea

Garden Patch Salad

Chili Relleno





Sage Mashed Potatoes

HIBISCUS-MINT TEAS PRINTER FRIENDLY RECIPE

GARDEN PATCH SALAD PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE



olive garden (MoFo 6)

Olive Garden - When you're here you're family!

Unless you are vegan, then you should consider yourself in-laws.

Olive Garden is an Americanized Italian, family, commercial restaurant that is not so much Italian as American fast food that overcharges and is not vegan-friendly. True to that credo, veganizing Olive Garden has been a frustrating quest. Not so much because their food is so unique that transforming them to vegan is difficult, but because my pictures of the food weren't turning out quite right. Then, I needed to streamline the recipes and hone the flavors. All in all I spent waayyy too much time on Olive Garden, making the following dishes more often than my family cared to partake of, over and over again for the past few days.

Enough whining! 

I chose Fettuccine Alfredo because once you can make the Alfredo sauce you can make practically half the menu and I love Primavera Alfredo - an Alfredo based pasta with spring vegetables. The vegan-Alfredo sauce is easy, tasty and soy-free. It thickens as it sits for a few minutes so don't stress if you don't see it thickening in the pot. Pour it over the Fettuccine like Olive Garden does and then mix it in at the table.

My second choice was Chicken Scampi. 

Shrimp Scampi was absolutely one of my faves when I worked at seafood places, but now I can't imagine for the life of me why I ate bugs. Yes, folks, shrimp, lobster and crab are arthropods, sharing the same kin as the roach. I'm now good with seitan, thank you very much. Looking back I am sure I loved it for the garlic and lemon. Yeah, that's it. This dish has lemon and garlic, too, making it an authentic scampi.

Lastly, my kids have been bugging me for Tiramisu. Olive Garden's tiramisu is not quite as complicated as one from  a true Italian kitchen, so it makes it easier for us home-cooks to veganize.

Of course, the bread sticks, salad and soup are what vegans go for at Olive Garden. Naturally we have to get the bread naked, the salad undressed and the soup without the cheese. While I ran out of time adapting the bread sticks and dressing (which I am working on!), the Minestrone Soup I have already blogged about and the Spinach-Artichoke Dip is another one already in the arsenal. Check those out for more Olive Garden clones.

Enjoy!

As for the cookbook, Vegan Vittles, winner, Random.org has chosen comment #1 as the winner. I will try to find your address, but if you'd like to make sure the book gets to you asap, email me at veganaide@yahoo.com with your address! Thanks everyone for participating! Another book contest on Friday.

Cost Breakdown:

Alfredo:

cashew, nutritional yeast: $2.50

pasta, garlic: $3

Total to make 2 large servings:

$5.50

scampi:

cashew, nutritional yeast: $2.50

pasta, lemon: $3.50

seitan, flour: $3

garlic, pepper, onion, spices: $1

Total to make 2 large servings:

$10.00

tiramisu:

flour, Earth balance: $1

cashew, almond: $2

starch, flour, extract: $1

maple syrup, sugar: $2

cocoa: $1

TotL to make 6 servings:

$7.00



Chick'n Scampi



Fettuccine Alfredo

Tiramisu

Chick'n Scampi Recipe

Tiramisu Recipe

native foods (MoFo 5)

Native Foods is the brain child of Tanya Petrovna, who opened the first Native Foods in 1994. She will be opening the seventh very soon! That is impressive; a vegan restaurant that will be celebrating another grand opening. What is more impressive, though, is the food. I am literally licking the plate that I served the Azteca Ensalada on - that Mango-Lime Dressing rocks!

Another impressive feat is the preparation of her tempeh. While she actually makes the tempeh on the premises, my store-bought version did not suffer any using her technique. Delicious! If you are one of those tempeh-phobes this is the recipe for you. If after having tempeh this way you don't like it, then you never will and you may fearlessly throw in the proverbial towel. 

To the recipes...

Let's face it, nachos are good. Most any nachos. But these Native Nachos are great! Chef Tanya shares her Native Chi's recipe that go on this and the taco 'meat' is TVP. You can freely use seitan ground, however, or omit it at will and double the beans. Nothing processed. Even the cashew sour cream I have on there is very easy to make. THIS is one loaded nacho plate and go ahead and customize it to your palate.


Now for that salad I was drooling over in the beginning - assorted greens with tomato, onion, jicama or apple or asian pear, cucumbers, cilantro, mango, raisin, pumpkin seeds, quinoa (superfood!) and that outrageous Mango-Lime Dressing and you not only have a complete meal but a little piece of heaven.

The last item on our tasting menu is the Gandhi Bowl - two kinds of rice, steamed greens, curry sauce and that tempeh of hers - blackened. Cajun-meets-Asian. Another out-of-the-park dish. She is batting a thousand.

The only real criticism I have is that she is inundating the east coast with her restaurants and is leaving the mid and west coast to suffer without her culinary contributions. Pure selfishness.

Cost Breakdown:

Nachos:
chips: $3 
cheeze, cashew sour cream: $3
TVP, beans: $4
tomato, onion, olive, pepper: $3
Total to make apps for 8:
$13.00


salad:
greens: $4
Asian pear, tomato, cuke, mango: $4
mango, lime, oil, cilantro: $2
raisin, pumpkin: $1
quinoa: $1
Total to make 4 servings:
$12.00

Bowl:
rice: $1.50
curry, coconut milk: $2
tempeh: $3
greens, cauliflower: $3
Total to make 5 servings:
$9.50

Native Nachos



Ensalada Azteca



Gandhi Bowl



cafe flora (MoFo 4)

Cafe Flora is a Seattle  based vegetarian restaurant that opened in 1991. They built their restaurant environmentally minded, to reduce the their impact on the world community as well as their neighbors. They claim that part of their job is to help shift the consumption of animals to a more plant-based diet. They do not want, or expect, everyone to switch to vegetarianism, they do want more people to make it a viable and a more frequent choice to include plant-based meals into their meals. This is logical and very doable. Think about it: if everyone ate meatless meals on, say, ...Monday, how many animals would not have to be in the great animal husbandry industry?  How many less animals would have to be killed weekly? How many people would be so much better off with just one day a week of meatless meals? How would the earth be impacted by this one simple action?

If you haven't included Meatless Mondays into your week, I encourage you to do so this very coming Monday. Breakfast is a no-brainer. Lunch is very easy - soup, salad, sandwich - and for dinner come back here and pick something to make. Recipes are posted, pictures can help you decide and the food is good. Walking to work, changing your light bulbs and recycling are not the only things you can do to help the environment. And a Meatless Monday helps you as well as the animals. A triple whammy!

To help you get started, I am giving away a new copy of a Vegan Cookbook - Joanne Stepaniak's Vegan Vittles. This was one of the first cookbook I picked up ten years ago and it is one of the simplest, easiest to follow, containing very tasty recipes and a great way to introduce yourself to vegetarianism. Leave a comment and let me know what your thoughts are on Meatless Mondays. Contest is open to North American and UK residence and no, you do not have to be an omnivore to enter. Please enter by the end of Monday, Nov. 8. Winner will be announced Tuesday, Nov. 9.

On to today's recipes.

A signature appetizer of Cafe Flora's is the Coconut Tofu with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce. This was nice and coconuty, but not quite as flavorful as I was hoping. The tofu was a little bland, but the crust was great. I think making this with seitan would add more to the flavor. The breading is flour, coconut milk and ground coconut flakes.

Another more successful one was the Lentil Pecan Pate Platter. I know that as a vegan it is not likely that a Liver Pate would be on your Top 100 list of foods to recreate, but I am Hungarian and my dad was a great one for mixing together a chicken liver pate or beef tartar...you get the gist. We had pig feet in aspic as the New Year meal... yeah.

So forgive me that I have been looking to make liver pate vegan. If you are one of the other dozen or so people in the known universe who is vying for this very thing, look no further than this recipe. You will need red lentils, mirin (rice wine), umeboshi paste (sour plum paste) light miso (Japanese fermented bean paste) and pecans. This is the real thing without liver.

As their signature dish, Cafe Flora presents Oaxaca Tacos with Black Bean Stew. They only make this veg so I adapted it to vegan. It is incredible how some mashed potatoes and black beans can be transformed to this delectable dish. They use real cheese, but I used a recipe adapted from Stepaniak's Uncheese Cookbook to make this soy-free and processed-free. This meal has many components, but they can all be done separately: Black Bean Stew, Smoky Muenster Cheeze, Mashed Potatoes, Salsa, optional feta adapted from Bryanna Clark Grogan's Feta recipe.

Cost Breakdown:

Coconut Tofu

tofu:$2

ginger, seaweed, tamari, rice vinegar, miso: $1.50

flour, coconut: $1

coconut milk: $.50

oil: $2

chili, sugar:$1

Total to make apps for 5:

$8.00

Pate

lentil: $1

onion, garlic, spice: $1

mirin, umeboshi, miso: $2

pecan: $1.50

onion, garlic, balsamic, sugar: $2

crackers: $2

Total to make apps for 8:

$9.50

Tacos

tortillas: $2

potato: $2

cheeze (cashew, agar): $3

black beans, corn, garlic, spices: $3.50

tomato, pepper, lime: $2

Total to make 5 servings:

$12.50



Coconut Tofu with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce




Lentil Pecan Pate Platter with Onion Confit



Oaxaca Tacos with Black Bean Stew

Coconut Tofu Recipe

Lentil Pecan Pate Recipe

Onion Confit Recipe

Oaxaca Taco with Black Bean Stew Recipe

Smoky Muenster Recipe

soup nazi (MoFo 3)

Hopefully everyone has seen the Seinfeld episode with The Soup Nazi (or was that more than one?) otherwise my play on this restaurant is useless. You remember, the soup guy who won't give you the soup unless you follow proper protocal for ordering? Well, the soup guy actually exists, but not as Soup Nazi - but, as the Soup Man - and he is still selling his soups in Manhattan, and takes great offense at any refernce to being called you-know-who.

I couldn't really tell you if any of his soups are vegan or even vegetarian, but it seems to me that unless you live close by or have the mula to ship it, you and I are out of luck anyway.

Not only that, but I am darn certain he does not make Mexican Chicken Chili or Crab Bisque vegan. Luckily, making the Chili vegan is doable, but the crab thing is a little more challenging. I am, however, willing to wager that his is not any better than my version: Golden Beet Bisque. 

Both soups require 4 hours of cooking. Let me say that again: 4 hours of simmering. Yeah, I know. BUT, so worth it! Just make one and let it hang out on the back of the stove on a lazy Sunday afternoon and by dinner you will be thanking me.

I used Tender Seitan in my Chili, but you can use tofu that you have wrapped or pressed and marinated in some nutritional yeast and sage and salt. Or use another can of beans.

The Bisque has some Earth Balance and a cup of cashew milk and is blended. This was so good! It tasted like beets but not overwhelmingly so - I didn't think I was digging in the garden after having a bowl - but, it certainly was rich.

To accompany the soups, I baked a lovely loaf of whole wheat bread. It is 100% whole wheat and tastes great, not to mention not costing $5.

And don't forget about the cookbook contest staring tomorrow. And if I forget, remind me!

Cost Breakdown:

Bisque:

beets: $3

onion, celery, garlic, tomato, spices: $3 

cashew: $1

Earth Balance: $.25

Total to make 5 serivngs:

$7.25

Chili:

seitan: $1

carrot, onion, celery, pepper, tomato: $2   

spices, herb: $1

beans, corn: $3

Total to make 5 servings:

$7.00

Bread:

flour: $1

maple syrup: $.50

olive oil: $.25

salt, yeast: $.25

Total to make one large loaf:

$2.00

Golden Beet Bisque Recipe

Mexican Chick'n Chili Recipe

Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

applebee's (MoFo 2)




We all have one of these in our neighborhood, don't we? Well, maybe not everyone, but then I didn't exactly research the number of these fine establishments that are dotting the planet. I guess I chose Applebee's, not for their super fabulous menu, but because I worked at one. In fact, I thought I was just hired to work at a place that was going to put a bunch of $$$ in my pocket and drove 90 minutes each way to go to work.

I quit within a month. It wasn't the gold-mine I was expecting.

I never really understood Applebee's phenomena; every time we ate there (pre-veg), they never managed to get the order right and we got some pretty awful food because of it. That is a good enough reason to make it at home.

We made two of Applebee's signature dishes... the Asian Chicken Salad - cleverly omitting the 'fried' part from the name and...the more-famous-than-Houdini Applebee's Ribs. No need to have Babe on a plate, we have seitan all ready to transform a plate of something my daughter called "eww, gross,'' as she gazed upon Applebee's website, to "this is really good, Mom," as she was chowing down on her Seitan Rib.

Finger-licking good.

The Oriental Salad has fried Tender Seitan on it and a mustard-maple sesame dressing. It never ceases to amaze me that someone can transform a perfectly healthy plate of greens into a heart-attack on a plate fare. And, yet, that is what seems to be happening across the board in restaurants - veg or not, fried tastes right. This was no exception; it was really good.

So, while you dear reader, can pick and choose wisely when or if to indulge in these fried delicacies, my family will need a good detox in December.

The sacrifices we make for the blog.

Cost Breakdown

Salad:

lettuce, cabbage, carrots, onions: $4

chow mein, almonds, cashews: $1.50

maple, vinegar, mustard, veganaise: $1.50

seitan, corrnflakes, flour: $4

Total for 4 servings:

$11.00

Ribs:

seitan: $5

ketchup, spices, herbs, vinegar, sugar: $2

potatoes: $3

Total for 5 servings:

$10.00

Asian Chick'n Salad

Applebee's Style Ribs

Asian Chick'n Salad Recipe

Applebee's Style Ribs Recipe