Asian Food – The Spicy Spatula

Asian Food, Bowls, Curry, Indian, International vegan cuisine, Vegan

Vegan Butter Chicken

Posted on November. 2022November. 2022 by writinstuff

Today’s recipe isn’t exactly a recipe, though I will offer some guidance how to whip up a quick and easy vegan butter chicken, but I wanted to share the one decent photo that came out because this vegan butter chicken recipe came out so well.

Really well.

The hubs said it was my best attempt so far so…yay!

As much as I love Indian food and I fell in love with it during the years we lived in Los Angeles, I had never had Butter Chicken before. Vindaloo and Dopiza was always my favorite and our local restaurant, Anarkali, I would often experiment but I guess I hadn’t made it to Butter Chicken.

Yet.

Then we moved to Germany and there was a wonderful Indian restaurant close to our house called Kashmir. They had a lot of really amazing dishes, notably their butter chicken made with 4 different levels of heat. The hottest was AMAZING. I loved it and couldn’t get enough of it. From that moment forward, it became a favorite and over the years I have tried my hand at vegan butter chicken recipes to varying degrees of success.

Here is the photo, the only one that came out without steam distorting it, I might add. It was delicious and now I have to make it again and maybe get some decent photos the second time around.

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Asian Food, International vegan cuisine, Noodles, Plant Based, Salads, Vegan

New Vegan Product + Vegan Fish Filets & Noodle Salad Recipe

Posted on November. 2022November. 2022 by writinstuff

Hello folks out there in vegan recipe land! How are you?

Today I’m doing a combo post featuring a new vegan food product find and a recipe with said food. Usually my new products are vegan snacks or random vegan ingredients, but today we’ve got the best of both worlds.

As you might recall, I’ve used the vegan brand Unfished a few times here and there, in my Vegan Tuna Orecchiette with Lemon & Capers recipe or my Mediterranean Vegan Tuna & Potato Cakes w/ Oven Roasted Asparagus. You can find more tuna recipes here on the blog. So, imagine my surprise when I’m pushing my cart through my local Kaufland and I spot a refrigerated shelf featuring non-canned Unfished vegan products. If ever given the choice between vegan fish filets and vegan fish fingers/sticks, I will never choose vegan fish sticks.

Not ever.

Never!

So what’s a vegan girl to do when she’s got a package of vegan fish steaks and no idea what to do with them?

Something? Anything?

I decided to do something off the beaten path but it turned out super delicious and healthy-ish, so let’s see what we can do with vegan fish filets!

What is your favorite vegan fish alternative?

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Asian Food, International vegan cuisine, Noodles, Vegan

Vegan Takeout at Home ~ Dandan Noodles

Posted on October. 2022October. 2022 by writinstuff

A few years ago I first tried my hand at making a vegan Dandan noodles recipe. Even before I went vegan, I loved this dish so recreating it has been a fun process.

Last time I used the wrong noodles–in my opinion–and the tofu wasn’t quite the right fit for Dandan noodles. I’ve made it here and there over the years since the first recipe but none of them have been share worthy. Until now.

Today’s vegan Dandan noodles recipe is definitely worth a share, and since things in my world are quite crazy now, I’ll keep this short and simple.

Promise.

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Asian Food, Bowls, International vegan cuisine, Noodles, oil free vegan recipes, Salads, Sides, Vegan

Vegan Banana Blossom “Meat” & Hong Kong Style Noodles w/ Crunchy Vegan Side Salad

Posted on October. 2022October. 2022 by writinstuff

Yep, here we are again back in my vegan kitchen with noodles on the menu. I know what you’re thinking, does this chick eat anything other than noodles? The answer is yes, I do eat plenty of other grains but Asian cuisine is my favorite and I love to experiment with it.

And I love to eat noodles.

It’s somewhat of a comfort food for me in that it is the perfect backup when I’m testing out a new recipe because noodles make everything better. If I screw it up, at least we’re having noodles, right?

So there are noodles but there are also banana blossoms. Don’t judge because I know what you’re thinking, here we go with another of those specialty ingredients that are impossible for normal vegans to find. I would have said the same thing, except I was just browsing the Asian section of Kaufland and happened up these canned banana blossoms in water. Of course I grabbed them, because all these vegan chefs have been making everything out of it from vegan fish to vegan chicken and I was curious to try it out.

But deep frying? Not for me, please and thank you. I decided to keep it simple and go with a sauteed version that does still serve as a vegan meat alternative, but subtly so.

And this dish is the end result.

Delicious vegan noodles with banana blossoms

This vegan dish is easy to make and it feels as if it takes a lot more time than it does, which means its a great way to impress vegans and non-vegans alike!

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Asian Food, International vegan cuisine, Noodles, oil free vegan recipes, one pot recipes, Plant Based, Soup, Vegan

Vegan Hot & Sour Soup Recipe

Posted on October. 2022October. 2022 by writinstuff

With fall upon us and autumn weather barreling in like she owns the place, our house become a soup kitchen, quite literally. Just this month alone, we’ve probably had soup about 7 out of 10 days because yeah, we love soup that much.

But cooking–and eating–so much soup means you have to keep it fresh or else someone (by someone, I mean me) will start complaining about having repeat dishes. That means scouring vegan blogs, recipes that can be veganized, making fusion soup recipes and tweaking old favorites. It can become a lot if you let it.

I refused to let it because soup is just a warm cold weather salad, right?

All right, maybe that’s a poor comparison but they are both low in calories, high in nutrients and full of vegetables, which is basically a bowl full of goodness.

I don’t always post a lot of vegan soup recipes because the photos hardly ever (cough, cough, never) turn out great. But soup, at least my soup recipes, would be perfectly categorized in my ugly but delicious category.

Anyway this vegan soup recipe isn’t my own, it’s from Will Yeung who had some really great Asian style vegan recipes. I follow him on YouTube and this Hot & Sour Soup recipe has become a favorite since he posted it.

The list of ingredients, at first glance, may seem overwhelming but once it’s all chopped up, I promise you it’s easy peasy…ish.

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Asian Food, International vegan cuisine, Plant Based, Vegan

Easy Vegan Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts Recipe

Posted on October. 2022October. 2022 by writinstuff

When it comes to Brussels sprouts there are usually two types of people: those who love Brussels sprouts and those who have bad taste. Hahaha, just kidding! Seriously though if you have a love-hate relationship with Brussels sprouts, I have a easy vegan recipe that is guaranteed to change your mind.

It’s Brussels sprouts season here in Romania and pretty much around the world, which means there’s plenty of time to experiment and find a way to eat Brussels sprouts that you absolutely love.

Why?

For starters this cruciferous vegetable can help you with health issues such as high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease. It can also help stave off many different types of cancer. And I mean who doesn’t love baby cabbage?

I personally love Brussels sprouts and this week I found a new (to me) recipe to challenge my husband and change the way we think about Brussels sprouts. Kung Pao Brussels sprouts is a fun twist on a Chinese takeout favorite that is totally vegan, super flavorful and really easy to make.

So, let’s get to it, shall we?

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Asian Food, Beans, Bowls, Desserts, International vegan cuisine, Plant Based, Travel, Vegan

A Day in Bucharest ~ Sightseeing & Vegan Eats

Posted on September. 2022September. 2022 by writinstuff

Last week was our 18th wedding anniversary and we decided to do something that we have been avoiding for the past few years. Driving in Bucharest. Well, that’s not entirely true as we did spend some time in 2021 there in order to get some tattoos, but in general it is a huge headache and something that was just…ick.

But there are some tourist attractions that I really wanted to see and figured I could pull the Anniversary Card to make it happen. It worked like a charm.

The plan was simple; spend the morning sightseeing and stop at some kind of cafe for a coffee or a drink and then finish off our day of sightseeing at Ceauşescu Mansion and then a nice vegan dinner. But then we both remembered that this is Romania and things rarely work out the way you planned, especially in Bucharest.

The good news? We did manage to get in some sightseeing so you’ll have some pretty and historic sights as well as some delicious vegan food!

Let’s start with this beautiful tapestry made by an unknown Romanian artist for Ceauşescu Mansion.

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Asian Food, Bowls, International vegan cuisine, Noodles, Plant Based, Vegan

Vegan Cafe Treats

Posted on September. 2022September. 2022 by writinstuff

Since yesterday was a holiday in the United States I decided to hold off on posting a vegan recipe until Wednesday but I wouldn’t leave you hanging so I thought I’d share some more goodies from a local vegan cafe.

This is kind of a big deal since there are just about NO vegan places to eat in Ploiesti. There are a few places that have a couple vegan items but most of them are the same vegan meat alternatives we have in our fridge or freezer so why pay the markup, right?

Exactly.

But this place, Cafeneaua Nației, has a few completely vegan dishes made from scratch. They have a few of the well-known vegan meat alternatives like Mici and Schnitzel but they have quite a few surprises like the chickpea pancakes we had last time, which you can read here.

This time around we chose a few different dishes and one that’s already become an old faithful dish, the pureed lentils and rice dish with caramelized onions served on top.

To start we tried something other than beer and water. I chose a ginger lemonade with fresh ginger which was very delicious and refreshing, which was much appreciated on one of the last days of this European heatwave. He ordered a green smoothie that came with kale and apple and carrot and a bunch of other stuff that was…okay for me but he loved it.

It was another nice day out and we decided to eat outside this time, enjoying the late afternoon sunshine.

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Asian Food, Bowls, International vegan cuisine, oil free vegan recipes, Plant Based, Vegan

Vegan Fried Rice & Vitasia Veggie Spring Rolls

Posted on August. 2022August. 2022 by writinstuff

Here’s a secret I want to share with you all. Sometimes I can be a bit of a food snob and it’s not necessarily one of those instances where I believe that I’m too good for a certain type or food product but more so that I’m very distrusting of a lot of pre-packaged foods and it gives me extreme anxiety so I just avoid them. This is especially true when it comes to bagged or any other pre-packaged salad products, thanks to a childhood of recalls that left me deathly afraid of food poisoning and other food borne illnesses.

But the more this vegan food blog grows, the more I try to step out of my comfort zone to try new vegan food products because I know I’m not the only one. So when I was at Lidl this week and came across a package of veggie spring rolls from Vitasia, I took a long hard look at the ingredients list and decided to give it a shot.

What goes well with vegan spring rolls? Well to be honest plenty of things but my Hubs requested veggie fried rice so that’s what we went with and it was pretty dang delicious. Mostly.

I wanted to make a quick and easy vegan meal that was plant based and delicious, so I kept it simple but please, tell me what you prefer to eat with vegan spring rolls?

The pre-packaged spring rolls came with those little packets of what I still call duck sauce even though I have always and only eaten them with egg rolls, but I improvised and added a few things to them, which we will talk about.

DO you have a favorite brand of vegan egg rolls? Brand names & links welcome in the comments!

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Asian Food, International vegan cuisine, Plant Based, Salads, Vegan

Quick & Easy Vegan Salads ~ Cucumber & Wakame Salad w/Ponzu Dressing

Posted on August. 2022August. 2022 by writinstuff

For today’s recipe I’m going to get back to one of my favorite vegan recipes. Salads.

I don’t know about you but everyone in my life who isn’t vegan–which is most of the people in my life–loves to make jokes about salad being the only thing my husband and I eat. They think they’re hilarious but any good vegan knows just how delicious a properly made vegan salad can be. I’m not talking about a few tomato wedges or three slices of cucumber with some heavy creamy salad dressing.

Oh no.

If you’re interested in some delicious vegan salad recipes that are a meal on their own, check out these recipes:

(Mostly) Raw Vegan Cabbage Salad
Vegan Sushi Salad
Crispy Chickpea Rainbow Salad
Vegan Buffalo Chicken Salad
Vegan Potato Salad

Today’s vegan salad recipe is a side salad and it goes great with just about anything. In fact, this salad was a nice little addition to a pizza bread recipe, which you can find here.