Category: International vegan cuisine

Posted in Asian Food, Bowls, International vegan cuisine, Plant Based, Vegan

Kung Pao Tofu Recipe – Vegan Takeout Recipes

Posted on by writinstuff

Happy Hump Day, Vegans!

Recently my partner made a delicious meal that we haven’t had in a very, very long time. It’s actually a dish I love and I’m pretty sure I’ve only made it once in all the years I’ve been vegan.

Kung Pao.

Way, way back, many eons ago when we lived in Hollywood, there was this great little place called Kung Pao Bistro and they made–hands down–the best Kung Pao I’ve ever had. The toasted cashews and the roasted chili peppers were so rich and deep in flavor that it always stuck with me. So when he brought the plates out a few nights ago and I saw it, I was so excited!

It was spicier than he usually makes food, which he regretted, but I found it a nice spice with a great aftertaste that lingered for just a while. Simply put, it was just about the best Kung Pao Tofu I’ve ever had.

If you’re looking a way to veganize your favorite Asian takeout recipes, this is a really good one. Instead of deep frying with lots of oil, you can use cornstarch and a light sheen of oil and pop it in the air fryer, which helps shave off plenty of calories and that overly greasy taste you sometimes get with fried food.

It was incredible I just wanted to share the photos with you because, alas, I don’t have the recipe. But he did find this online so here you go:

Continue reading “Kung Pao Tofu Recipe – Vegan Takeout Recipes” →
Posted in Bowls, International vegan cuisine, oil free vegan recipes, Plant Based, Salads, Vegan

Vegan Horiatiki Salad Recipe ~ Easy & Tasty Vegan Greek Salad

Posted on by writinstuff

Happy Hump Day friends, foodies and lovers of all things vegan!

Today was my cover reveal for my latest contemporary romance novel, Make Me Want To Love You and as such, this post is late because things have been–still–hectic lately. If you’re curious to know more check out the cover reveal or just go ahead and pre-order it TODAY!!!

Things have been busy, sure, but then again things are always busy aren’t they? I have too many jobs to count–ghostwriter, author, blogger, traveler and more–which means there’s no such thing as down time and even though a proper salad can be time-consuming, I think it’s totally worth the effort because my hunger will be satisfied longer which means I won’t have to stop for food (or snack) breaks.

Salads are my jam and I’ll fight anyone who wants to argue about it, but most days I don’t have to because if you like salad, you can appreciate the beauty and wonder of such a colorful and nutritious (pssst…and low calorie) meal. And if you think it’s rabbit food, well you’ll earn soon enough.

This vegan salad recipe is actually a vegan version of Horiatiki Salad which is just another way of saying Greek Salad. except this isn’t the one you get at those big chain restaurants that have entirely too much red onion and not enough cucumber and tomato.

Oh no, this one has other goodies like capers, bell peppers and vegan feta because…well because I was eager to test out this new vegan feta cheese and built a salad around it. Okay?

Do as much prep work first as you can and this will be the tastiest and fastest vegan salad you’ve made this month! (Ha, see what I did there?)

Continue reading “Vegan Horiatiki Salad Recipe ~ Easy & Tasty Vegan Greek Salad” →
Posted in Asian Food, Bowls, Curry, Indian, International vegan cuisine, oil free vegan recipes, Sauces & Creams, Vegan

Vegan Curry Recipe! ~ Vegan Mince & Mushroom Curry

Posted on by writinstuff

Hey there my fellow vegan food lovers! Hope you’re having a happy Monday. It’s cold and gray and rainy here which, honestly, feels like a slap in the face when I spent ALL day Sunday finishing my edits on Emerald Creek so I could get the ball rolling on everything else.

I should be playing tennis right now but the rain is staying like an unwelcome visitor so I’m inside. And yeah, I’m going to make kimchi today while I take care of a bunch of author things but last night my hubs made this delicious vegan curry dish and I just had to share it with you all.

Personally, I am a big fan of curry. I like it creamy and spicy, and filled with vegetables. Those are my requirements and if you put a bowl in front of me stacked with hot, creamy goodness then I am going to eat it. Period.

Just like I ate this one!

Lidl has recently started carrying some frozen mushrooms. They have porcini, chanterelle and a mixture of wild mushrooms and you know how I feel about mushrooms. He tried out the chanterelle mushrooms first because he loves them but hates cleaning the fresh ones, not that I blame him but they’re so delicious that they’re worth the effort. Anyway, back to the vegan curry. He told me his plan and I was like, “Hmph, okay. Sounds weird but I trust you.” And, as usual, he surprised me and my taste buds.

His idea started simple enough: Beyond burgers, chanterelle mushrooms but as a curry.

And if any of you vegans out there have had Beyond in any capacity, you know just how incredibly they smell when they start to cook. It was torture while I was editing Make Me Want To Love You, which is book 2 in my Emerald creek romance series.

Okay, enough shameless book promotion and let’s get on with the vegan curry.

Continue reading “Vegan Curry Recipe! ~ Vegan Mince & Mushroom Curry” →
Posted in International vegan cuisine, Plant Based, Vegan

Vegan Birthday in Bucharest!! ~ The Villages Museum (Muzeul National al Satului “Dimitrie Gusti”)

Posted on by writinstuff

Happy April, vegan food lovers and lifestyle enthusiasts!!!

I’m a little late on this post because life just simply got away from me. March was busier than expected but I wanted to share my birthday with you because it was really cool, a truly amazing experience at a museum that was unlike any museum I have ever visited…and believe me when I tell you that I’ve been to a lot of museums in my day.

The Muzeul National al Satului , known in English as The Villages Museum is a huge (approx. 100k square meters) plot of land located in Bucharest and it contains houses, artifacts and monuments from all around Romania ranging from the 17th Century to the 20th Century. The cool thing is that these structures were deconstructed from their original locations and reconstructed inside the museum/park.

Y’all…this place was so cool. There were homes from all over the country so you could see how they lived during a particular time period and climate, what their needs were and most of all, which parts of these older cultures still exist in some form today. I can’t gush enough about this experience so I’ll just share some photos with you!

Track Your Nutrition & Health Data with cronometer.com Continue reading “Vegan Birthday in Bucharest!! ~ The Villages Museum (Muzeul National al Satului “Dimitrie Gusti”)” →
Posted in Bar Food, International vegan cuisine, oil free vegan recipes, Plant Based, Sandwiches, Sauces & Creams, Vegan

Vegan Mushroom Reuben ~ A Vegan Twist on a Classic Sandwich

Posted on by writinstuff

Happy Hump Day!!

Hopefully you’re having a good week because I totally am. I am making good progress on edits for Emerald Creek book 2 and tomorrow is my birthday so it’s a good week, and I have a very good vegan sandwich recipe for you today.

I find that most people have a very black and white opinion when it comes to a Reuben sandwich as in they either love it or hate it. Personally I’ve always been a fan of this sandwich and it’s mostly due to two things that are usually vegan. The bread and the sauerkraut.

So I was look around the interwebs as I tend to do in order distract myself from a task I don’t want to do–like book editing–or just to take a quick break and reset my brain, and I typed in “ways to use sauerkraut” to find inspiration for my sudden desire for fermented cabbage. One of the items that popped up was, of course, a Reuben sandwich.

In that moment, I had to have it. I knew that I would find a way. Now for a little context: in the early days of being a vegan the only way to get veganize corned beef or brisket required a ton of seasonings and seitan and a lot of stuff that I honestly wasn’t going to do because…time.

But then I saw a vegan Reuben sandwich recipe that uses mushrooms. Mushrooms, y’all!

We know how mushrooms are my jam and I knew that this was the recipe I would use, but I looked around a few more recipes (tempeh, seitan and even tofu) and decided that, yep, I’m gonna do the mushrooms.

Pssst., if you’re wondering the inspo recipe, get it HERE.

So I did the mushrooms, specifically I used good ol’ crimini because all the oyster mushrooms were damp and whenever I have wood ear mushrooms, I can’t resist pickling them. I have a few dried mushrooms I’ll be testing out soon, but for this I kept it simple because I didn’t know how it would turn out.

Answer? Amazeballs, that’s how it turned out.

Track Your Nutrition & Health Data with cronometer.com Continue reading “Vegan Mushroom Reuben ~ A Vegan Twist on a Classic Sandwich” →
Posted in Asian Food, Beans, International vegan cuisine, Noodles, Plant Based, Sides, Vegan

Vegan Asian Fusion Takeout At Home!

Posted on by writinstuff

Have I ever told y’all just how much I love food from the Asian continent? Because I really, really do. Whether we’re talking Indian or Thai curry dishes, Mujaddara from Iran, vegan sushi, vegan char siu, fried rice and noodles galore. I love all that I know (minus the animal products) and I can’t wait to learn more.

So last week I did the thing that I’ve been working on for months now…I finished Emerald Creek book 2! I’m still not sold on the title so maybe a better one will come to me while I dive into editing this, the roughest of drafts! If you’re interested in my non-food writing, check out Emerald Creek book 1, Best Of My Love!

Okay so, I finished this wonderful romance, which was a huge milestone because writing for other people all day and then myself after that means I have get my words in when I can and when I can…yay! I decided to reward myself with a bit of vegan takeout, Asian fusion edition.

I’ve said before that there aren’t a lot of vegan options here in Ploiești and the last thing I wanted to do to reward myself was drive to Bucharest even though there are plenty of delicious vegan options there. So, I popped on a an episode of That Chapter (true crime podcast) and I whipped up a vegan takeout meal that I could eat at home, in my pajamas while watching television.

I know, I know…time to change the tablecloth!

It was pretty easy in terms of vegan dinners even though there were multiple components, and there aren’t a ton of ingredients so you can do this at home for a weeknight or to impress a crowd.

What’s your go to takeout? What’s your favorite Asian cuisine?

Continue reading “Vegan Asian Fusion Takeout At Home!” →
Posted in Bar Food, Cheese, Herbs, International vegan cuisine, Italian, oil free vegan recipes, Pizza, Vegan

Vegan Feta & Agave Pizza

Posted on by writinstuff

I know plenty of people say they have a problem with social media or they simply bemoan the existence of it, but I love it. It’s not only a great marketing tool for my books but it is a great way to interact with people who like the things you like. And best of all? There’s an endless supply of quick recipe videos so I don’t have to expend too much creativity in the kitchen coming up with recipes.

Why bother when the interwebs have already done that part for me?

So one day I was scrolling, as I do sometimes when I’m stumped and I saw this recipe for a honey and feta sausage pizza. At first I was just gonna scroll past it but the thumbnail image was too enticing to ignore. So I clicked on it and watched the video and the idea of feta and honey together sold me.

Immediately my mind went to Violife brand vegan Greek block because that stuff is mighty delicious, and agave syrup. I knew those would be the perfect substitutes so it was only a matter of what to use for the vegan sausage. My first thought was Naturli vegan sausage because…well, vegan sausage. But the recipe used that ground sausage and I really wanted to give the actual recipe a veganized shot so I kept thinking.

There’s always vegan mince but that didn’t feel right either. And those nut-blend mince recipes are great but holy smokes are they caloric. So I decided I had to make the ground vegan sausage myself. And by make it myself I meant grab a brick of firm tofu and season & marinate it myself, just so we’re clear.

And that’s the short story long version of how today’s vegan recipe came to be.

Continue reading “Vegan Feta & Agave Pizza” →
Posted in Bar Food, International vegan cuisine, Italian, oil free vegan recipes, Plant Based, Vegan

Crispy Baked Eggplant Recipe

Posted on by writinstuff

I don’t know about y’all out there in the internet land but when it comes to fried foods, I have a love-hate relationship with them. I love them. I love to eat them provided they aren’t greasy to too caloric, which is to say that I don’t actually love to eat them in reality. In theory or perhaps in my memory, I love them but I don’t like that greasy feeling coating my mouth and teeth, I don’t like the act of frying food and I don’t like the way it makes me feel afterwards.

But I do love the crispiness of fried foods so the conundrum is and has been for many years, how to achieve that crispiness without all the downsides.

The two obvious answers are baked or air fried, right? Of course. But that’s not always enough. The key with most fried vegan food is finding the right combination of breading without–again–going into the land of lots o’ calories. But today I think I have achieved the right blend of crispy and crunchy and not over the top calories.

Hooray!

vegan meals

I eliminated some of the common tricks I’ve seen including the crispy-maker combo of flour and cornstarch, because what they add in crispiness does not make up for what they add in calories.

This crispy eggplant recipe is baked but it totally tastes fried, calorie friendly and you can use it for all the vegan recipes that require fried eggplant such as the famous vegan eggplant parmesan. It’s not too cumbersome as a recipe since I’ve managed to eliminate one of the breading stations so…you’re welcome.

Continue reading “Crispy Baked Eggplant Recipe” →
Posted in Breads, International vegan cuisine, Italian, oil free vegan recipes, one pot recipes, Plant Based, Soup, Vegan

Vegan Italian Bread Soup (Pappa al Pomodoro) Recipe

Posted on by writinstuff

Hey there, guys!

I don’t know how much you know about Romania but there are two major influences in this country in two distinct ways. German influences are everywhere, most obvious when it comes to corporate influences. Many of the biggest companies here–grocery stores, home wares, construction–are based in Germany.

And then there’s Italy. Many Romanians live in Italy and bring back parts of the culture for those at home, including food. Okay maybe most especially food.

Which brings me to my point. Finally. I had quite a bit of leftover bread and it was hard but not moldy so I was loathe to just toss it out. My options were limited, breadcrumbs or breadcrumbs. So what did I choose?

At my husbands advice, I chose an Italian style bread soup.

Now if you knew me at all you would know that I have a thing about soggy bread. I don’t like it. That’s my thing. It’s one of the reasons I don’t like any dish–vegan or otherwise–that makes use of soggy bread that I’m required to eat.

Nope. No, thank you.

But I did my research and found an Italian recipe Pappa al Pomodoro, which ironically means “tomato mush” when translated, and I decided it was something within my skill set and I had the required ingredients.

Verdict? It came out pretty delicious if I say so myself. But be warned, even though I didn’t put the bread in the pot, but rather at the bottom of the bowl and poured the rest of the soup on top of it, that bread was hot as hell!!

My only complaint, I swear!

This vegan soup recipe is easy to make, doesn’t have a rigid list of ingredients and can be used as a perfect throw away vegan recipe, as in you can use things that might have to be thrown away if doesn’t get used soon.

Continue reading “Vegan Italian Bread Soup (Pappa al Pomodoro) Recipe” →
Posted in Asian Food, International vegan cuisine, oil free vegan recipes, Plant Based, Soup, Vegan

Caramelized Onion & Gochujang Tomato Soup ~ Easy Vegan Soup Recipes

Posted on by writinstuff

Hey there friends & fellow vegans, I hope you had a wonderful weekend! My weekend was pretty uneventful, although I did a new dance workout that was really fun and tiring. I’m a little sore but I regret nothing! I also got thisclose to finishing Emerald Creek so you should expect me to: a) talk about it A LOT and b) post a lot of one pot vegan recipes or vegan sandwiches.

Okay. So. I’ve never really been a fan of tomato soup but I guess that I mean I’ve never been a fan of canned tomato soup because I have tried it twice (at least, edit: this is the second time I’ve made this, I checked. See the first attempt here) in the past twelve months and I didn’t have the same instinctive negative reaction that I used to. So maybe I no longer dislike it, at least to the point that I am now experimenting with it.

My biggest problem with tomato soup has always been that it tastes like eating (drinking if we’re being honest) tomato sauce. Usually sweeter than I want a soup to be with no texter or thickness, basically a booze-free Bloody Mary, except well a Bloody Mary has flavor.

BUT The Hubs loves tomato soup and I’m an excellent wife so I’m working on trying to improve it and I think today’s vegan soup recipe achieves that goal, and then some. I took your basic tomato soup and just added some strategic flavor enhancers such as:

*Gochujang paste
*Caramelized onion
*Roasted bell pepper, ginger & garlic

And to give a little texture and thickness I used fresh tomatoes and crushed tomatoes from a jar, plus about 120 grams of cannellini beans. So, let’s do this!

Continue reading “Caramelized Onion & Gochujang Tomato Soup ~ Easy Vegan Soup Recipes” →