Asian Food – The Spicy Spatula

Asian Food, Grains, International vegan cuisine, Sauces & Creams, Vegan

Korean Style Vegan Mince Bulgogi

Posted on June. 2022June. 2022 by writinstuff

If you’re like me and you love all food from the continent of Asia then you know that the best way to constantly improve your Asian recipes is to keep making them. Each time I watch my favorite food bloggers I learn more and more about what little extras I need to add to my spice pantry and I slowly gather them until every dash of this or pinch of that helps me become a better home cook.

When it comes to Bulgogi, practice makes the best progress. Each time I make this dish the flavors are a little bit better, a little bit deeper and just so darn good that I always wish for more. And then a little bit more because you take the fat out of girl but you can take out the fat girl!

Today’s vegan bulgogi is made when vegan mince instead of soya strips, mushrooms or any other vegan beef strips alternative. I wanted the emphasis to be on the sauce and mince provided the perfect outlet for that.

This is an easy vegan recipe that is packed full of flavor, it’s easy to make and can be achieved with pantry staples.

So let’s not wait any longer, grab your apron and your favorite heat-resistant pan and let’s start gathering our vegan food ingredients!

Continue reading →

Asian Food, Bowls, International vegan cuisine, Salads, Vegan

Vegan Sushi-Style Salad

Posted on June. 2022June. 2022 by writinstuff

As much as I love when the weather turns warm, it’s always kind of a daunting task to find things to make for lunch that are calorie friendly, cold-ish and not salad.

Not that I have anything against salad, you know, it is one of the dishes I love and eat most frequently. You can check out some of my favorite salad recipes here, here and here. But the truth is that a girl needs a little variety in her life to switch things up, ya know? And no matter how many different ways you make salad, something other than dark leafy greens and tomatoes and cucumbers needs to go in my tummy.

Anyway on this particular day I was feeling a little bit creative so I went a little crazy with this idea of a sushi style salad in that it is sushi-like but not actually sushi.

And it began with the idea of a soy sauce and wasabi style salad dressing. Weird, right?

I know.

But here we are, vegan sushi salad.

Change up any of the ingredients you like or don’t like, or add some vegan ingredients I don’t have access to like vegan salmon or something similar and tag me on it.

Continue reading →

Asian Food, Bowls, oil free vegan recipes, Plant Based, Sauces & Creams, Vegan

Easy Vegan Lunch Recipes ~ Mushroom & Snow Pea Bowl

Posted on May. 2022May. 2022 by writinstuff

Whether you work at home like me or you have to head to an office each day, lunch is inevitable. By the time noon rolls around, your belly might rumble with hunger or maybe you skipped breakfast, or maybe you just practice intuitive eating and lunchtime is when your hunger kicks into overdrive.

Enjoy some of these vegan lunch recipes:

Veggie Ramen & Miso
Smoke Tofu Bahn Mi
Soul Food Lunch Plate

Whatever the reason you need to eat lunch and you have choices. Will you head to the nearest drive-thru to satisfy your hunger with something greasy and delicious but that won’t provide you for much energy to get through the day? Or will you load up on something healthy and full of vegetables and nutrients to keep you going?

I know which choice we all want to make. The easy choice and that’s a given since our brains are hard-wired to maintain the status quo, to avoid doing anything that might cause the smallest amount of pain or discomfort. But with a few seconds of thought and good decision making you’ll reach your health, work or life goals much easier.

And all of that was just my way of introducing my latest dish, Mushroom & Snow Pea bowl. So simple, right?

Darn tootin’!

Simple and delicious.

Continue reading →

Asian Food, Bowls, International vegan cuisine, Noodles, Travel, Vegan

Eating Vegan & Sightseeing in Targoviste, RO

Posted on May. 2022May. 2022 by writinstuff

I missed yesterday’s post because the Hub’s and I went to Targoviste, Romania for a day trip to do some sightseeing and see what kind of vegan food we could rustle up after a day in the sun.

Targoviste was beautiful! Absolutely gorgeous. We saw the Princely Court & Princely Palace, not to mention Chindia Tower which served for hundreds of years as the home for many members of Romanian royalty, including the infamous Vlad Tepes during his second reign. It was a wonderful day of sightseeing and history and learning new things, and the day was only made better by finding a place vegan food options that went beyond French fries, eggplant and tapenade.

We first arrived at Targoviste in the midst of what can only be described as a downpour. The weather alleged that it was meant to be intermittent showers until late afternoon but it was a total downpour for more than an hour so instead of sightseeing right away, we went to Ganbare, a Japanese restaurant, and took full advantage of all the vegan food options.

If you’re curious about homemade Japanese food, check out my vegan Okonomiyaki recipe!

And I do mean ALL of them!

So let’s stop wasting time and talk vegan food.

I have to say that Ganbare did an excellent job with the vegan options they had available and the only downside was that they didn’t label them as vegan so new vegans or unsuspecting/unlearned vegans will probably skip this place and that would be a huge mistake.

Continue reading →

Asian Food, International vegan cuisine, Noodles, oil free vegan recipes, Plant Based, Sauces & Creams, Vegan

Easy Plant Based Vegan Udon w/Veggies

Posted on May. 2022May. 2022 by writinstuff

The 2020’s have been wonderful for vegans. There’s a plethora of vegan meat alternatives available for you to satisfy your appetite from old faithful tofu to vegan sausage, steaks, chicken and even seafood. If you live in one of the major cities around the world, there’s no end to the vegan options available to you to try out and enjoy. Even if you live in a smaller town, the internet makes it easy to order just about anything that strikes your fancy.

But some days you just want to keep it simple. An easy plant based vegan recipe that’s full of vegetables and creamy udon noodles.

This is a simple vegan recipe that is the perfect answer when you want to use up the rest of your vegetables before your next shopping trip, or if you’re out of ideas but you really need to eat. 🙂

Cooking vegan food at home doesn’t mean that you need to whip up gourmet food every single day, sometimes it’s about simple and vegan and nutritious.

There are really just three components to this dish: noodles, veggies & sauce. If you want anything else, feel free to add it and I’d be happy to see/hear the results.

Continue reading →

Asian Food, Curry, Indian, International vegan cuisine, oil free vegan recipes, Vegan

Traditional Style Vegan Vindaloo Soya

Posted on May. 2022May. 2022 by writinstuff

Just in case you are wondering, yes I am still knee-deep in editing Let It Be Love because well, because editing takes time and it has taken me a while to write this story because my day job–more writing–has been insane over the past few years.

We should all be so lucky to have that problem, right?

Anyway instead of spending my time writing up recipes I have been spending a little bit of extra time actually making the recipes. There’s just something about cooking that doesn’t just relax me, but helps clear my mind. I’ve been cooking while listening to police interrogation videos–an off-shoot of my love of true crime docs–and they are surprisingly Zen. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been doing prep work and an idea will pop in my head, forcing me to wash my hands and type notes or put them in a voice recorder.

So…the good news is that I did get a few plot ideas while I was making this vegan vindaloo recipe. The not quite as good news is that I went with the traditional-ish method of making Vindaloo.

What does mean? Well it means I did what I could with what I had, while adhering to the traditional methods such as cooking and then grinding whole spices. It was a whole thing and I completely understand if you opt for already ground spices to get this recipe on your table.

So, let’s give it a go! (Are you a fan of That Chapter on YouTube? It’s Mike’s catchphrase only picture it with an Irish accent!)

Get ready for some major prep work and some insane flavors!

Continue reading →

Asian Food, Bowls, Grains, International vegan cuisine, Plant Based, Sauces & Creams, Vegan

Vegan Takeout Recipes ~ General Tso’s Cauliflower

Posted on May. 2022May. 2022 by writinstuff

This week (and maybe next week too) I’m going to keep the recipes as short as possible because I must start editing Let It Be Love, which is book 5 in my Mustang Prairie series.

If you’re interested, check out the link here.

Anyway my schedule is a little packed so I will try to make this as quick/short as possible.

Today we’re doing vegan takeout right at home. It’s faster, it’s cheaper and the only thing it’ll cost is some of your time.

Vegan takeout recipes at home – General Tso’s Cauliflower

When it comes to this recipe, you have choices and I strongly urge you to exercise them because this dish can be so wonderful in so many different ways.

So let’s jump right in.

Continue reading →

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

Vegan Curry Recipe ~ Butternut Squash, Roasted Cauliflower & Chickpea Curry

Posted on April. 2022April. 2022 by writinstuff

This weather has been so all over the place lately that it makes it difficult to meal plan. Okay the truth is that I’m not much on meal planning, our Midnight Tokyo Diner nights have been working out incredibly for the past few years so we get tons of ingredients, many of them fresh and then pantry staples, and then we can decide from one night to the next.

But with food shortages and shipping delays it’s harder and harder to get what you expect to find in the grocery stores in April. For example, there has been a TON of butternut squash lately which I love, but for me it usually means soup like, Squash & Lentil Stew. Or cookies. Or cake. Those are my go to recipes for squash, but sometimes I feel creative and make Vegan Spinach & Squash Queso Dip or Squash Blondies.

But I wasn’t in the mood and the weather was just insane. It was super warm and we went for a long walk without jackets one day and the next it was gray and gloomy and super chilly. And the only thing to like about a cold and gloomy day is cold weather vegan food. Chili and soups and stews and casseroles are all great vegan meals when the temperature dips and I knew when The Hubs asked for cauliflower curry, exactly what I would do.

Roasted Cauliflower & Butternut Squash Curry

This isn’t a quick vegan dinner but the good news is that the oven does most of the work.

Continue reading →

Asian Food, International vegan cuisine, oil free vegan recipes, Vegan

More Vegan Sushi

Posted on April. 2022April. 2022 by writinstuff

Today’s post is just a quick humble brag post on my hubby and the way his sushi making skills have improved over the years. There’s no need to do another complete vegan sushi recipe, but just in case you’re in the mood to impress someone special I’ve listed a few of my favorites below.

Spicy Tuna & Veggie Rolls
Sushi Salad Bowl
Smoky Tofu Nigiri & Vegan Crab Roll

My birthday was a few weeks ago and I really didn’t feel like driving to Bucharest to get some good Asian food, so I requested vegan sushi, super spicy tuna in particular because I kind of love UnFished brand vegan tuna.

Although I’m not doing a full recipe, I will provide you with a tip here. Always make your sushi rice a few hours in advance so it has time to cool properly before you handle it.

Continue reading →

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

Easy Vegan Dinners ~ Spiced Chickpeas & Rice

Posted on March. 2022March. 2022 by writinstuff

We’re all so busy all of the time that we’re often on the lookout for easy vegan recipes, right? I mean, for example I’m committed to the cause, I annoy my friends and family and all that, but some days I want something delicious, vegan and easy. Whether it’s an easy vegan salad or my favorite Easy Vegan Colcannon, sometimes easy is the priority.

Of course, I don’t mean easy like frozen pizza or other vegan junk food that doesn’t quite hit the mark in terms of taste, calorie friendliness or satiety. I mean is this something I will enjoy and not regret when I’m finished eating.

When it comes to this easy plant based vegan recipe, you won’t have any regrets, except that there isn’t enough for seconds. But you can easily double this recipe to make four servings.

So let’s not waste any time and get right into these saucy spiced chickpeas and rice. You can thank me later. 😉

If you want to forego the sauce, simply toss the chickpeas in dry seasoning and pop them in the air fryer or the oven. Otherwise, keep reading to get the recipe.

Continue reading →