Vegan Gardein Marsala on New Vegan Menu at La Bella Italia, VA Beach, VA

I felt like a had a real grown-up vegan meal this week in an Italian restaurant, which is fairly rare in our area!

Other ethnic restaurants like Chinese, Indian, Mediterranean, Thai, etc., seem to have many more protein-rich options.  But, Italian restaurants can’t seem to do much better than pasta with veggies, which, however tasty, is fairly high in calories and low in protein.

But that was before La Bella Italia in Virgina Beach recently introduced a whole vegan menu (on the back of their specials menu). Kudos to them!

If you live locally, or happen to visit the Hampton Roads area of Virginia in the eastern part of the sate, I highly recommend the dishes created around Gardein brand faux “chicken,” as the rest of the vegan menu is made up of items from their main menu that are naturally meat- and dairy-free.

I ordered the mushroomy Marsala, as you see here.  But this is only half of the order!  It was so large (at $18.95) that I brought half home and enjoyed it for lunch the next day.  I spruced it up a bit for its photo op, arranging the “side” of vegetables (sauteed zucchini–of which there was none leftover for my lunch–red bell pepper, and onion) over the top and adding a sprinkle of pistachios and a couple of basil sprigs (which I highly recommend!).

With several other Gardein dishes on the menu, one even with vegan cheese (!), I can’t wait to go back.  At long last, there is an Italian/continental restaurant in our repertoire that my husband and I enjoy equally.

Bon Appetito!

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Vegan Strawberry Chicken Salad

Yield: approximately 3 cups

This was another restaurant redux. The vegan chicken marsala I ordered was a flop–the chef, who really tries hard to create pleasing vegan dishes, and sometimes does, admitted to having difficulty making it flavorful–so I brought home lots of leftovers and rinsed off any sauce that still clung to the strips. After they drained, I mixed them with some fresh strawberries from my favorite outdoor market–they come from a rural area of our town called “Pungo” which is known for its strawberries–and a light dressing, serving it over a bed of greens topped with spicy pecans. I do believe I have a keeper.

approximately 1 1/2 cups vegan chicken strips (e.g. chicken flavored Seitan), cut into bite-size pieces
approximately 1 1/2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons vinegar of choice (I combined balsamic with apple cider)
1 tablespoon sherry wine
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 small loose handful of fresh dill, rinsed, dried, leaves removed from stems and minced
1/2 of a small loose handful of fresh tarragon, rinsed, dried, leaves removed from stems and minced
coarse sea or kosher salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper

fresh greens like baby spinach
Vegan Sweet and Spicy Paprika Pecans or the toasted/seasoned nuts of your choice plus sprigs of fresh dill or tarragon

Gently toss vegan chicken and strawberries together. Whisk together remaining ingredients and pour over vegan chicken mixture. Toss lightly and serve over a bed of greens garnished with Vegan Sweet and Spicy Paprika Pecans or your favorite nuts. Note: you will have more dressing than you need, but I like the amount so that I can marinate the vegan chicken and berries liberally. When I serve it, I use a slotted spoon. But if you prefer, you could make 2/3 the amount of dressing (use 2 teaspoons instead of 1 tablespoon, etc.).

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Vegan Tempeh Salad with Green Grapes, Smoked Almonds and Grape Tomatoes

Yield: 2 servings (true confession: I ate the whole recipe for a late lunch, but I didn’t eat dinner)

As part of my higher protein, lower calorie diet, I stirred together this quick salad for a late Sunday lunch, serving it in a martini glass to make it feel even more special. I loved it and wished I’d made twice as much so I could have brought some to school for lunch.

For this recipe and some 170+ more,
I invite you to purchase my first cookbook:

The Blooming Platter:
A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes

Vegan Heritage Press
Spring 2011

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Vegan Chicken, Mushrooms, Yellow Peppers and Broccoli in Creamy Tarragon-Scented Sauce with Lazy (Wo)man’s Vegan Palmiers

Yield: 4 servings with a side salad (includes two palmiers per serving)

This recipe was my answer to the desire for a warm, comforting meal that tasted decadent, but was actually quite healthy, and that would go together quickly on a frigid Sunday night. Though delicious on its own, the dish seemed to need something else. However, since it was ready to eat when I realized that I wanted something to take it “over the top,” and since I was hungry to boot, the “something else” couldn’t take very long to prepare.

I remembered that I had vegan puff pastry in the freezer and thought about some kind of “bread” sticks, but the dough takes 40 minutes to thaw. So, I wondered what would happen if I thawed it in the microwave. What happens is it sticks together. So, then, out of necessity, I simply left the sheet of dough double folded (like a business letter) as it comes out of the package, sliced it into inch-wide sections and baked them. To my delight, my method resulted in the cutest and world’s easiest palmiers that were ready in little more than 15 minutes! A sprinkling of paprika before baking made them extra-special. And they are the perfect accompaniment to the dish…and to my husband’s steak (ugh).

For this recipe and some 170+ more,
I invite you to purchase my first cookbook:

The Blooming Platter:
A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes

Vegan Heritage Press
Spring 2011

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Vegan Thai Chicken Salad

Yield: approximately 4 cups

Today is the last day of summer break for teachers in our district, as we go back tomorrow for a week of “pre-service” before the students return on September 8. School means school lunches, so I enjoyed spending some time this afternoon grocery shopping and creating a couple of different wholesome spreads for quick and satisfying mid-day meals throughout the week.

This time, my favorite Vegan Smoky Chicken Salad is back but with a Thai twist. (See also the Chinese version in the previous post.) Like its inspiration, this iteration emphasizes color, texture, taste and nutrition. But the ingredients, in virtually identical proportion, are decidedly Thai: red bell pepper, dried pineapple, carrots, green onions, cashews, cilantro, curry powder, vegan fish sauce and lime juice.

Enjoy as you would any chicken salad, only maybe with chopsticks.

For this recipe and some 170+ more,
I invite you to purchase my first cookbook:

The Blooming Platter:
A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes

Vegan Heritage Press
Spring 2011

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Vegan Chinese Chicken Salad

Yield: approximately 4 cups

The veggie-resistant members of your clan will never know they are eating their broccoli and carrots when you serve up this Chinese-inspired twist on my Vegan Smoky Chicken Salad.

Like its forebear, this version is flecked with pretty contrasting colors and packed with nutrition. But the ingredients give a nod to Chinese cuisine. The carrots remain, but water chestnuts replace the apple, broccoli florets the celery, and scallions the onion. Peanuts stand in for the smoked almonds while Five Spice Powder is substituted for the tarragon and the smoked paprika and soy sauce for the lemon juice.

Enjoy this spread in a sandwich, with crackers or veggies, or any way you like your chicken salad. Or make it extra-special by serving generous-sized scoops on large Chinese Napa cabbage leaves or daintier scoops on smaller leaves for “roll your own” cabbage wraps. Either way, a few peanuts make the perfect garnish.

For this recipe and some 170+ more,
I invite you to purchase my first cookbook:

The Blooming Platter:
A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes

Vegan Heritage Press
Spring 2011

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Vegan Smoky Chicken Salad

Yield: approximately 4 cups

Made in a food processor, this riff on ever-popular vegan chicken salad has a texture similar to my Vegan Chicken Paté. I had made the latter recently and was craving more of something similar, but a little less decadent.

Smoked almonds and smoked paprika give this spread its subtle wood-fired flavor. Apple, celery and carrots up the vitamin quotient which, along with parsley, provide nice texture and flecks of color. The tarragon, optional nutritional yeast, and faux chicken seasoning enhance the chicken-y flavor. And the combination of lemon juice and vegan mayo provide just the right amount of tang.

This salad is delicious served in all of the traditional ways, but it is particularly enhanced by a simple side salad of long, narrow seedless cucumbers–preferably home-grown–sliced and sprinkled with vinegar and coarse sea or kosher salt to offset their natural sweetness.

For this recipe and some 170+ more,
I invite you to purchase my first cookbook:

The Blooming Platter:
A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes

Vegan Heritage Press
Spring 2011

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Vegan Chicken Paté with Sautéed Pears

Yield: approximately 12 appetizer servings

Following is one of the recipes I created and prepared for our “Happy Birthday, Julia Child!” dinner party this past Saturday night (see the post below for a photograph, menu and more). Though this is my own concoction rather than a veganized version of one of Julia’s, I created it in the spirit of her passion for all things French, including paté with butter!

Originally, I called this recipe a chicken liver paté, but a reader thought that “liver” sounded unappetizing, so I changed the name because there is nothing liver-like in the dish. Rather, it combines vegan chicken strips with all of the addicting ingredients for a chicken liver paté that my good friend and caterer *Monica Holmes used to make: toasted pecans, onions, mushrooms, cognac and more.

Often patés are served with cornichons but, for some reason, lightly sauteed pears sounded more beautiful and tasty with this dish…and they were! It was a hit with all of the guests, as was everything on our potluck menu.

Bon Appetit!

For this recipe and some 170+ more,
I invite you to purchase my first cookbook:

The Blooming Platter:
A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes

Vegan Heritage Press
Spring 2011

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Vegan Tempeh Chicken Salad

Yield: approximately 4 servings

I’ve been out of the country/state for the last 11 days and have truly missed blogging. But my travels to London and to see my family in MS were fun and rewarding on many levels, not to mention filled with delicious vegan food. Stay tuned for Three Bean-Sundried Tomato Cakes with Ale Chutney from one of the many pubs we visited in London and a couple of terrific recipes from my mother and aunt.

But, first, I wanted to post this faux chicken salad inspired by my family’s visit to The New Yokel Market and Side Door Cafe in Hattiesburg, MS (see link under “Platters for Purchase” in my sidebar). We fortified ourselves there before going to see “Julie and Julia” (more on a dinner party inspired by the movie and Child’s August 15 birthday in an upcoming post). Mom is remarkably tenacious at sniffing out vegan food in a state known for rendering vegan food the opposite by virtue of ingredients like fatback.

This utterly charming and rustic market and cafe sells goods otherwise challenging to find in MS and turns out simple mouthwatering vegan chow like this tempeh chicken salad and a curried vegetable soup over dense vegan cornbread. I’d never made chicken salad with tempeh because I don’t think tempeh tastes much like my faint and distant memories of chicken, but it turns out not to matter one bit (or bite).

This salad–as close as I could come to their version–is some very good eats. The addition of fresh red grapes adds color similar to dried cranberries, but without that intense flavor that tends to overpower everything else. They also add moisture and natural sweetness. Lightly toasted walnuts add depth of flavor, crunch and nutrition. And celery, of course, provides even more juicy crunch while contrasting beautifully with the red grapes. My secret ingredients are a mere teaspoon of maple syrup to offset tempeh’s slight natural bitterness and minced fronds of fresh fennel to impart a subtle anise flavor because I think it goes perfectly with “chicken.” Fresh or dried tarragon would be nice too, but I happened to have some fennel with overly abundant fronds that I was going to have to wrestle into the fridge. Dill would be lovely as well. If you use fennel fronds, be sure to mince them very finely or you’ll feel like you’re eating a little lower on the food chain than you intended.

Enjoy this salad in a wholegrain sandwich; with crackers, celery sticks or sliced tomato; or just with a spoon!

2 cups faux chicken stock or vegetable stock
1-8 ounce slab of tempeh, cut in half crosswise (I used the soy variety)
rounded 1/3 cup finely diced celery
rounded 1/3 cup red seedless grapes, quartered
rounded 1/3 cup chopped walnuts, dry roasted for about 3 minutes in a small skillet over medium-high heat
*optional (but delicious!): lightly packed 1/3 cup minced fennel fronds (or minced fresh tarragon or dried tarragon to taste); just use the fine fronds and not the thick stems
4 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise
4 tablespoons vegan sour cream
1 teaspoon maple syrup
sea or kosher salt and freshly pepper to taste

*Note: Fresh or dried dill would be lovely as well, though it would impart a slightly different taste. Also, you can change the proportion of mayo to sour cream, even using all of one or the other.

In a large cast iron skillet, bring the 2 cups of stock to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat so that the stock is just simmering, add tempeh, and simmer for 8 minutes, turning once halfway through. Remove from heat and allow tempeh to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, use this cooking time to prepare other ingredients, placing them all in a medium bowl. With fingers, crumble tempeh into the bowl and stir everything together with a spoon or fork.

Serve in a sandwich, with crackers or veggies, or on a bed of lettuce.

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