I’ll blame this eating madness to Labor weekend and the bad weather forecast.  The weather.com said it was supposed to rain so I decided to try a few products I’ve read are good, vegan and tasty.  I told myself why not, and now I’m hooked.

It took me 2 months missing cheese and to read more about the whole milk industry to force myself to try Daiya… I tried it melted with sauteed garlic and vegetables inside of a warm bun and mushroom burger, heaven? yes!

So I heard a husband’s friend talking about how I wouldn’t be able to enjoy BBQ deliciousness anymore along with the sides because they usually have dairy and/or animals, eggs too, and of course I proved him wrong! Yes I could and yes you can enjoy comfort food.

This is simple and you can make everything from scratch pretty much, if you don’t like gardein, buy seitan or tempeh, if you don’t like canned beans, soak and cook your own, I saw tons of recipes for baked beans from scratch.  If you don’t like Daiya, you can make it buttery with Earth Balance margarine or your favorite butter substitute and mashed garlic.

Here it goes:

Gardein Crispy Chick’n served 4 portions (thought package says it serves 3) and I didn’t use the mandarin sauce inside of te package because all I wanted was something crispy to go with my baked beans and mac n cheese.

I followed the instructions on the package, I heated up 2 tbs of grapeseed oil and brown the strips on both sides and voila! simple as that.

Amy’s, I’m not a big fan of canned beans, they aren’t usually cook to my taste, but the refried ones come in handy at times, and if I buy a brand it is usually Amy’s or Eden. I wasn’t in the mood to make baked beans from scratch and this is when Amy’s came in handy.  I like to add leftovers to my beans and I had some smart bacon strips and tempeh so I chopped and sautéed them.  After a few minutes I added the Amy’s baked beans, I also added 1/4 cup of water because I don’t like my baked beans too chunky.  If you have onions or peppers, sauté them and with the baked beans, they go great together!

Mac n cheese w/ Daiya cheese wedge, well this I did make from scratch and this is how it goes:

1/2 package of cheese

3 tbs of  Margarine (or any vegan butter)

1/4 cup vegetable stock

1/2 cup of unsweetened dairy free milk (I had regular almond and coconut milk leftover and it worked just fine with both)

Whole wheat pasta of your preference (corn pasta should work great too! for gluten-free folks!) (2 cups give or take)

Chili powder

Instructions:

1. Cook pasta to your preference (not too soft if you are planning to bake the mac n cheese)

2. In the pot you cooked the pasta; pour the milk and butter until it warms up a bit and then add the cheese (it melts faster when you crumble it).

3. Stir until everything is melted and add vegetable stock (half first).

4.  In low heat keep stirring, add the pasta and incorporate the sauce, make sure the  pasta is all covered with it and add more vegetable stock if it’s too sticky.

5.  Add chili powder to your taste or any other spice of your preference.

—

You can see the results! I was so happy because I really enjoy crispy texture in my dishes.  I reheated the Mac n Cheese the next day and the sauce broke but it tasted just fine!

I can’t wait to try other things with that Gardein crispy chick’n: in a sandwich, with chili basil sauce or buffalo wing sauce!

I still prefer to make my own baked beans but this is a good replacement for days I don’t want to do much in the kitchen.

Give Daiya cheese some time, I remember the first time I had sushi 9 years ago I literally put the piece I was chewing back on my napkin, and then a few times more I ended up loving it, so yes we can educate out palates!  This time it’s not only for our taste buds but because it seems the right way to go, not taking baby calves milk to make our usual cheeses and instead when we have a crave we know we can rely on brands like Daiya and others that are trying to offer something non dairy!

If you still have dairy I think this recipe works the same way but mac n cheese recipes with animal products  you can find everywhere, so that’s why I wanted to share this vegan version.

Oh what a journey this vegan life… This isn’t my healthiest recipe but it was so comforting to make and EAT and sometimes that’s all I want.

Peace

&

¡a comer!

I met the lovely Leigh Lambert at the last DC Food Blogger Happy Hour , we laughed and talked about anything food and if you can imagine anyone making Brownies sexy, Leigh fits the profile pretty good!

These brownies have a lot of personality my two favorite were the Barista Bar  and Living in Sin.

I don’t drink coffee but I do like it’s flavor on some goodies, and in brownies its probably one of the best! This is how it went:

Me: (opening the box) “Pretty packaging, oh wow these brownies are huge!”

The Boy: (staring at the brownies) “Do I have to share with you?”

Me: (gives him the evil eye) “You know I brought those brownies?!”

The Boy: (takes a deep breathe and finally comes to his senses) “Okey, I’ll bring the milk”

Me: (takes a bite of the Barista Bar) “Ok I can’t tell people anymore I don’t like coffee this is awesome, how the espresso brings out a touch of bitterness in the brownie making me smile”  (Stares at the Boy) “where is the rest of the Espresso brownie?”

If I was going to have either of these brownies I would probably have them with Coffee/whipped cream, almond milk vanilla ice cream, warmed caramel? When trying the Geisha Girl I was craving tasting it with a Spiced Soy Chai Latte!

Visit Naughty Bits brownies on  www.naughtybitsbrownies.com. You can find these goodies also at Society Fair, Zen Tara & Capital City Cheesecake!

“The brownie you can take home to mom, or take home to bed.” Our deliciously bad creations are hand-made in small batches using fresh, natural ingredients. They are individually wrapped in bio-degradable cello and boxed in sets of six. Pick your passion.” 

Leigh Lambert

• 15 cups plain popped popcorn , unpopped kernels removed
• 1 cup toasted pecan pieces
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
• 8 oz rendered Foie Gras fat, strained with cooked pieces reserved
• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons dark molasses, such as Grandmaâ€s Robust
• 1 teaspoon Maldon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

A good friend from the Chowhound community always organizes such amazing lunches, and he is great finding a “a hole in the wall†type of places, this time we went to Golden Bankgkok, a Thai restaurant that most of the group have tried already, except for me and one Canadian Chowhounder that joined us today.

The way the meal started made sense, with the softest and sweetest flavors, getting us to sour & bitter lands to end our meal with hot, pungent spicy craziness.

We started with this khao piak sen (chicken soup with homemade noodles), everyone liked it and to be honest it was good to start, the starchy soup opens your appetite, not salty, a touch of sweetness and bitterness thanks to the crispy garlic.

khao piak sen

Now this dish rice paste wrap was so simple yet so filling, wrapping in romaine lettuce pieces of Thai eggplant, ginger, peanuts, tomatoes, this sweet & savory rice paste and sliced lemongrass. It was just combination of aromatics and flavors still you feel light after having so much going on your palate.

rice paste wrap

I was very excited when I saw this dish on the menu Orm Lam (eggplant curry stew with beef) and yes the beef was tender and had a great texture, but the flavour was too mild, perhaps Iâ€m comparing it to the Vietnamese Goat Curry Stew I had a couple of weeks ago at Eden Center, but this dish didnâ€t deliver much flavors but for a non spicy Thai food person, this is a safe dish.

Orm Lam

The Banana Flower Salad, had tons of citrus touches with cilantro, it was very balanced, I wouldnâ€t order a whole bowl for myself, but it is great for sharing if ordering as a side dish. As you can see on the picture everything is mostly shredded so I didnâ€t get to make a distinction between the banana flower and the other elements on this dish.

Banana Flower Salad

Nam Khao (rice ball salad with pork), out of this world, personally this dish didnâ€t impress me on paper or when I saw it, then I had crunchiness of the fried rice (just as a good Panamanian Concolon!) then lime touches, cilantro, sweetness of the pork, it was heaven in my mouth and I could have had more and more of this dish, it is a must!

Nam Khao

Soup nor mai (bamboo shoot salad) I donâ€t even know if how to mention this, I feel terrible because my experience at this restaurant was really positive, this dish wonâ€t bring me down, and it wasnâ€t a matter of they missing something or poor execution, this dish was just Iâ€ll put it this way, I thought this salad was made of Durian, and I have never had Durian in my life, except for the candy my sister brought me from Nepal. this was serious, kind of smelly, I just tasted with the tip of my tongue and put a napkin and didnâ€t eat… some others at the table, as Chowhound warriors ate a spoonful and said it was ok but they couldnâ€t have a bowl or would order again.

The texture of the Koi Pa (shredded fish salad) threw me a little off at first, but its flavors were amazing, I am a huge fan of ceviche but I have to admit that the flavors on this salad were beyond the ones of a ceviche, it has so much going on without overwhelming the dish. there is galangal, lemongrass, touch of palm sugar that gave such complexity to the Koi Pa I just canâ€t wait to try it again.

Koi Pa

The Poon Pa (pounded fish) was just ok a little of the usual citrus flavors, lime & cilantro and the fish, nothing fantastic I can pass the next time.

Poon Pa

It was a revelation to try the Ping Ling (grilled tongue), you see my mother has cooked tongue so many times and even myself I have prepared it on dinners because of itâ€s demand by guests.  But I have never, ever even crave beef tongue, and yet I can still remember how I forgot to ask what dish it was while I was trying this Ping Ling I asked afterwards mentioned how soft and tender and tasty it was and someone “Itâ€s tongue Helena” and thatâ€s when I had this revelation, I had a slice of it without the sauce, and then with it. The bitter sauce I can live without tasting it for the rest of my life, the second sauce was amazing I even dipped my sticky rice in it, it was delicious, sweet, sour, citrus, pure tasty. Right now while typing this I want tongue and I want lots of it!

Som Pa (fermented fish) reminded me of a piece of beef jerky but with more texture and less chewy, it was another dish that at first sight I wouldnâ€t think it would tasty, but then this restaurant proved me wrong again with its fermented flavor and acidity it was another refreshing dish I would love many people to try.

Som Pa

Grilled Chicken the “Ping Kai” was served with a papaya salad which was really different and really HOT in compare to the ones I have tried before, it was not my favorite but I canâ€t say much because itâ€s heat was more that I could take, this dish was also served with a sauce that everyone called the soup because by itself with just some rice it was amazing.  Going back to the chicken itâ€s the closest I have tasted to my favorite kind of chicken the Jamaican Jerk Chicken, so yes it was as good as it sounds and as good as it looks.

Ping Kai

The last dishes Sai Oua (Lao sausage) it was nothing amazing for me itâ€s difficult to describe a dish that is safe and tastes just OK after having some disappointments and also so many great dishes at the same time. Forgettable is the word that comes to mind.

Sai Ou

At the end the kitchen sent a closing dish, it was a super ultra HOT past, I am not sure up to this moment what it was but it stayed in my mouth for a good few minutes, i tasted some sweet and salty but then the heat hit me like a bomb and I am very happy this was at the end of my meal because I wouldn’t have been able to taste anything after this dish.

A couple of ladies and I ordered white and dark Thai beers, I am not a huge beer fan but with this cold weather and so much spicy going on I would rather a glass of dark beer or I would suggest for non-beer fans, young coconut drink!

Rest of the pictures on my Facebook Page! CLICK

The next time I’ll make sure to check out their desserts!

¡a comer!

Location: Donovan House hotelâ€s ZENTAN (private room)

Date: Wednesday, June 2, at 6:00 pm.

The first Wednesday on every month you can meet, chat &  have a snack with all of us! We hope to see you there! If you plan in joining us please RSVP to the DC Food Blogger Facebook page.

Thanks!  And feel free to repost this flyer on your blog to spread the LOVE!

Cheers!

¡a comer!