Vegan German | Vegan Recipes for Vegans and Vegetarians: The Blooming Platter in Virginia Beach, VA

Get your salad on!

As part of my tasty work with Tofutti, we create the occasional not-to-be missed FREE eCookbooks, a curated collection of favorite recipes, all with photos, in keeping with a theme. As mentioned previously, life and work prevented me from staying current on my beloved The Blooming Platter website, but I’m back!

And I am proud to share our Simple, Sizzling Summer Salads before summer is over. Where I live in Coastal Virginia, we definitely have a few more weeks of summer-like weather ahead of us…and it’s been a hot one until Mother Nature decided to grant us some reprieve just this weekend. (To access and download simply click on the linked title.)

But, let’s be honest: we are fortunate to have at our fingertips a wealth of summer season ingredients year-round and these salads will certainly satisfy 12 months of the year. So, beat the heat with this selection of simple-salads-with-a-twist…or just enjoy whenever the mood strikes. A colleague at the school where I teach taste-tested the entire set–she teaches in the summer and I started a tradition three years ago when I was hired to bring her lunch–and received a hardy and “hearty” thumbs-up.

Released for July 4, each salad honors one of the immigrant cultures that has helped make America what it is:

Chinese Chili Crisp Slaw
German Roasted Potato & Sauerkraut Salad with Maple Caraway Dressing
Creamy Greek Salad
Indian Broccoli, Cauliflower & Eggplant Salad with Creamy Chutney Dressing
Italian White bean, Peach & Mint Salad with Creamy Lemon Dressing

These easy recipes are all prepared with Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream. Tofutti makes my favorite non-dairy sour cream (not to mention cream cheese, ricotta, and ice cream), but feel free to substitute, though non-dairy products batched by different companies all vary in taste and texture and my recipes have only been tested with Tofutti. If you would like to purchase Tofutti products online so you always have them at the ready, visit Plantx.

Happy Last Gasp of Summer!

~Betsy

Yield 6-8 servings

A vegan Oktoberfest may sound like an oxymoron. And it’s true, wienerschintzel and bratwurst aren’t typically meat-free fare. But this autumn, thanks to a simple vegan sausage recipe (for those who love to cook)—or prepared vegan brats (for those who don’t)—everyone, regardless of their dietary preferences, can take part in the merrymaking.

If an Oktoberfest celebration is not your style, this meal nonetheless makes a tasty, healthy and hearty—but not heavy—cool weather supper. Spicy white bean-based sausages are nestled into a braise of onions, cabbage, potatoes and apples before being topped with a dollop of sour “cream”-horseradish sauce and a tangle of red apple sauerkraut, my twist on the traditional red cabbage variety.

There is nothing purist about my take on traditional German fare, yet I pay homage to the cuisine through my combinations of ingredients. Take the sausages for instance. They are vegan cookbook author Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s recipe made with my own spice mixture inspired by bratwurst and thüringer rostbratwurst.

By repeating some of the customary spices and ingredients, like coriander seeds and apples, from one component of the dish to another, I tie the flavors together while still offering plenty of harmonious contrast between tastes and textures.

Follow each recipe as-is for a satisfying four-part, one-dish Deutsch-inspired meal, or take some creative liberties of your own.

Prost!