Vegan Pho - Inspiration

I recently moved back to the Vegan Mecca - Portland, Oregon! I am so happy that I am now able to get a wide variety of vegan options at pretty much any restaurant I go into. My problem is, however, that when a restaurant makes a vegetarian dish from what is traditionally a meat dish, they tend to add vegetables to bulk up the meal that don't always go with the dish - green beans, bell peppers, zucchini, cauliflower, ugh. When I order a vegetarian version of a meat dish, I would like to just have tofu/tempeh/beans/whatever protein sub is appropriate to substitute for the meat and I want the same vegetables as you would get with the original dish. For example, I have ordered veggie fajitas from Mexican places only to be given mixed frozen vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, carrots) to put in my tortillas, instead of just getting the bell peppers and onions. And if I modify a dish to fit my diet it can end up being mediocre because I took off something that was essential to the flavour of the dish.

Anyway, all of this is to say, I don't want to order veggie pho with mushrooms, green beans, bell peppers and whatever other random vegetables they want to throw in, so I am going to make it at home. I spent some time searching for recipes online this afternoon and I thought I would share them on here.

I searched for recipes that made their own broth using flavourful ingredients because that is the most important part of any pho.

http://www.steamykitchen.com/271-vietnamese-beef-noodle-soup-pho.html (NOT VEGAN, but I am including it for ideas on what spices/veggies to use).

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/health/nutrition/noodle-soups-from-the-garden-simple-vegetarian-pho-broth.html?_r=0 (Onions as well as the ginger is grilled before making the broth... count me intrigued on how that brings out that real ginger flavour).

http://thecozyherbivore.blogspot.com/2012/12/vegan-pho-with-green-tea-broth.html (This is made with my favourite green tea - gen mai cha! I'm not sure if I want a "popcorn" flavour in my pho, but it is something to consider).

http://www.oneingredientchef.com/vegan-pho/ (If you are not following this blog, I highly suggest that you do so. Each of his recipes uses "one ingredient" - meaning only whole foods. Everything is as minimally processed as possible and all the recipes look super tasty).

I'm going to be at my sister's house in the 'burbs this weekend and I'll probably take the opportunity to go by Uwajimaya for proper rice noodles, fried tofu cubes, and Thai basil without paying "white people" prices.

Have you made Vegan Pho? If so, any recipe you recommend? Or do you know of some place in Portland that I should check out?

Vegetable Lentil Soup

Tonight for dinner, I wanted to make something quick with vegetables we have from our produces boxes. I decided on soup because I can throw anything in it and it usually comes out well



2 servings

Ingredients
1/2 onion, chopped
3 - 4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 yellow carrot, chopped
1 regular carrot, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
2 smallish potatoes, chopped
1/2 jalapeno, diced
1/4 cup red lentils, washed
1 t better than bouillon veggie broth paste
water
black pepper
1 t curry powder (it got a bit lost, I would probably increase this next time)

toasted bread, to serve

Method
In a 2qt sauce pan, add a bit of olive oil and allow to heat up. Add onions, garlic, and celery and cook until softened. Add carrots and potatoes and stir to cover in oil. Allow to cook a bit, then add broth paste. Mix until all the vegetables are covered. Add enough water to cover, and turn the heat up to high. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer, cook until vegetables are nearly at desired doneness. Add lentils and allow to cook until tender about 5 - 10 minutes. Mash up everything with a potato masher or immersion blender. Adjust seasoning and serve with toasted herb bread.


Look at our fantastic CSA potatoes, so good!

Notes
Both my husband and I enjoyed this quite a bit. It was a tad bit salty because I added too much broth paste, other than that an easy, tasty soup.

Corn Soup

I might or might not be obsessed with sriracha sauce. It just makes everything taste so much better. It is not that I want that taste all the time, it is I want that level of hot all the time and it is the easiest way to do that.

The soup below shows the amount of sriracha I put into a bowl of corn soup.





I followed the same recipe as I posted about previously and added some kale at the end of cooking.

French White Bean and cabbage Soup

I still love my slow cooker. A lot. I might be getting a bit burned out on it though. A soup I made last week, didn't get eaten and most mornings I haven't wanted to put anything together. Hopefully, that won't last too long, because it is really nice to be able to come home and have dinner done.





Ingredients:
White beans (I used navy beans cooked in my other slow cooker while the soup was simmering)
cabbage, shredded (I used a coleslaw mix I had hanging around from the Wontons)
potatoes
carrots
onions
garlic
veggie broth
thyme
rosemary
salt
black pepper
parsley

Method:
Put in a slow cooker and cook for 6 -8 hours. Garnish with fresh parsley. I served with delicious sourdough herb toast.

This was very good. All the rosemary had floated to the top when I arrived home, which made the soup look a little strange until I stirred it all together.

Mushroom Barley Soup

Another one from the slow cooker.

I was excited when I put this soup together this morning, but by the time I got home, I was less than thrilled to be eating it. I didn't take a picture of it, because it was not very photogenic. I am in awe of people that can take pictures of risotto or other grains and make them look appetizing.

This soup was good, not fantastic and I probably wouldn't make it again. It fulfilled my nutritional needs for the evening.

Mushroom Barley Soup
Adapted from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker

onions, chopped
carrots, chopped
celery, chopped
mushrooms, chopped
barley, rinsed (I added about 1/2 cup for my 1.5 qt slow cooker)
veggie broth
thyme
rosemary
hot pepper
hot sauce

Put everything in the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours.

When I got home, the barley had expanded more than I had expected and had soaked up most of the liquid. The texture of the barley was, as my husband put it, slimy. I wasn't expecting it to be, not exactly gooey, so creamy. Once we added more hot sauce, the soup became much more palatable, but everything tastes better with hot sauce.

Corn Chowder

So the yogurt experiment did not go over so well and I am going to try it again by using the method outlined by Midwest Vegan. I need to get a thermometer before my experiment can occur. Maybe next weekend.





Last night for dinner was Corn Chowder. Not Chowdah. Chowder. People really talk like that, it is amazing to me.

onion
garlic
potato
fresh chili
broth
corn
seasoning (I used rosemary, thyme, black pepper, and salt)


Sauté garlic and onion in a bit of olive oil until softened. Add chopped potatoes, chili, and broth. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until the potatoes are soft. Add frozen corn and allow to warm through. Puree about half of the mixture in a food processor or blender or with an immersion blender (I really want one!). Reheat to desired temperature, taste and adjust for seasoning and garnish with green onions. I added a squirt or two of sriracha sauce, but you can assume I add that to pretty much everything.

I served with herb toast.

Hot and Sour Soup for the Slow Cooker

I adapted this recipe from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. This cookbook has been fantastic for my recent slow cooker addiction. The recipes are great, not too much prep, and make my apartment smell wonderful.

Total time: 6 - 8 hours (I put this on about 10:30 and came home a bit after 19:00 and nothing was ruined)



Soup and fried wontons


When I adapt crock pot recipes to my 1.5 qt pot, I usually keep putting ingredients in the pot until it is about 2/3 - 3/4 full and then add water or broth to cover. Your vegetables might vary. Adjust accordingly.

3 fresh oyster mushrooms, cut roughly
about 10 bamboo shoots from a can of bamboo shoots. (I am going to need to find uses for the rest of that can)
garlic, minced (I used about 4 cloves, but I love love love garlic)
fresh ginger, minced (Again, I love ginger. I think I used about a 2 inch piece of ginger)
1 T rice vinegar
1 T soy sauce (I used Bragg's)
1 t chile paste (I should have used a bit more. I like my food extra hot)
veggie broth to cover
----------------------
1 T cornstarch
1 green onion, diced
1/3 block of tofu, diced
frozen corn, edamame, peas, etc

Put all the ingredients through the broth into the slow cooker. Cover, cook on low, until you get home. The soup was not thick at all like hot and sour soups should be, so when I got home I whisked 1 T cornstarch with a small amount of cold water until dissolved. I mixed that into the soup and set it to high for about 30 minutes. I then added the diced tofu and had I remembered I would have added frozen corn and edamame directly after adding the cornstarch slurry. Garnish with the green onion and serve hot.

Both my husband and I agree that this was super duper tasty. The ginger developed a really deep flavor by cooking all day. This is definitely a keeper.

While waiting for the soup to thicken a bit, I made fried wontons. I had picked up some Tofutti cream cheese at the grocery store and mixing that with a bit of sriracha sauce, we had awesome wontons.