Have you ever been to a Japanese steak house/Japanese fast food joint and eaten a mysteriously delicious and PINK sauce? Well, I HAVE. Specifically at Samurai Express in Tallahassee, Fl. I would drive almost all the way out of town to get fried rice with mixed veggies and shrimp doused in this heroin-like pink tangy sauce. After a few hours of research (I can waste time like NO other) I discovered I was not the only one looking for the perfect recipe for what I came to know as “Yum Yum Sauce”.
SPOILER ALERT: If you find mayonnaise disturbing… now might be the time to stop reading. However, if you can get over that little phobia or are ok with the use of veganaise… carry on.
Since I’m still “playing vegan” (as my friend Jillian refers to it) here is my recipe for vegan “Yum Yum Sauce”:
- 1 cup Veganaise (do not use Trader Joe’s reduced fat mayo, which is vegan, but NOT ok for this recipe)
- 1/2 teaspoon of: sugar, paprika, ground ginger powder, pepper, ketchup, hot sauce, dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons melted vegan butter of your choice
- 3 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup of water
- pinch of salt
and whisk! Let it sit in the fridge for a few hours if you can. Even better if left overnight. The pictures below show how I made it and paired it with basmati rice, carrots, onion, zucchini, broccoli and tofu… but I swear to god if you run out of foods to slather it on or dip into it, you will just start drinking it with a spoon.
After spending the better part of a half an hour trying to come up with a clever title for this post, I have begun to blog… full aware that “kale” does not remotely rhyme with “hell” unless said in just the right southern twang.
ANYWAY, kale was our first cooking challenge and since I hadn’t cooked it before, I scoured the internets looking for delicious vegan kale recipes. I find that so many vegan recipes are too gimmicky… like they create these elaborate (read: expensive) recipes in an attempt to resemble real meat or real cheese… when really, I just want to eat vegetables… in their real form! I chose this recipe because I love Canadians and carbs. I added layers of broccoli and zucchini to the kale lasagna recipe because I could. I’m a rebel… I know.
These aren’t step by step (oh baby, gonna get to ya giirrrrrrlll) instructions. They’re just some pictures of the steps I took to get to the delicious end result.
Slice up some zuchs!
cut finger and apply pickle band-aid for irony and visual purposes
Bust out Gerty… my new blender!
Blend up some lightly steamed kale and tomato sauce in Gerty
Start some layering!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNDDDD BAKE!
The last step is eat. Everyday. For a week straight.
So admittedly I’m little obsessed with VeganYumYum right now. This is only the second recipe I have made from that blog, but man it totally lived up to the YumYum in the title. I haven’t had a creamy pasta in sooo long (lactose, ya know), so when I saw this I had to make it. It combined so many things I love: it’s super easy, super fast, and uses fresh basil. This might be the first time I have made something without screwing up even one part. Well, ok, maybe I could have blended the sauce a tiny bit more, but I think it’s impossible to blend up cashews in my cheapo blender till they are as smooth as cream. Here’s the recipe:
Super Quick Tomato Basil Cream Pasta
Serves Two
1 Large, ripe tomato (2 cups roughly chopped, 1 1/2 cups blended)
1/2 Cup Raw Cashews
1 Tbs Tomato Paste
1/4 Cup Water
2 Tbs Olive Oil
2-4 Cloves Garlic, minced, optional
6 Ounces (ish) Whole Wheat Spaghetti
1 tsp Salt (edit: upped from 3/4!)
2-3 Tbs Wine or Water, optional
1-2 tsp Freshly Cracked, Coarse Black Pepper
1 Large Handful Fresh Basil Leaves, chopped
Put a large pot of salted water on to boil.
Core the tomato, then roughly chop it. Add it to your blender, seeds, skin and all. Add cashews, tomato paste, and water. Blend until very smooth.
Add olive oil to a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute until golden, being careful not to burn. Once water is boiling, add pasta. Pour sauce from the blender into the saute pan and bring to a simmer. Add salt and let cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
If desired add wine/water to thin out the sauce. Taste and season more if necessary. Let simmer until pasta is finished cooking. Once pasta is cooked, drain. Add pasta to the saute pan with black pepper and freshly chopped basil leaves. Toss to coat. Serve immediately, garnishing with more pepper and basil.
PS, I’m going to keep posting so that B&J feel guilty and have to add a post ;)
-Austin Becca
Just ate this for lunch. It totally hit the spot.
From VegWeb
Ingredients:
2 slices multigrain bread
1 avocado, pitted & scooped into a bowl
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
pinch salt
Directions:
1. Toast the bread to your desired crispiness.
2. Mash the avocado with lemon juice. I find a potato masher works best but a fork works as well.
3. Spoon half of the avocado onto each piece of bread and push down so it covers the bread thickly and evenly.
4. Drizzle olive oil over the avocado mash.
5. Sprinkle salt and red pepper flakes on top.
PS, I’m lovin this song right now.
-Austin Becca
First blog post of the Becca, Becca and Jesse cross-country cooking blog!
So as this week was kale week, I decided to make Marmalade Tofu with Kale and Lemon Pearl Couscous. I found the recipe on VeganYumYum.com. Her food pictures are so pretty that everything looks delicious; I had to try it.
This was a meal of firsts for me. I’ve never baked tofu, made couscous or kale. That said, I think I did pretty good job.
The marmalade marinade on the tofu was delish! I just bought marmalade. Making my own was a bit too much for me. I had some trouble slicing the tofu, think I cut it the wrong way.
Didn’t quite get the 8 even rectangles the recipe called for! I used a glass casserole dish to bake the tofu, and anywhere the marinade was not covered by the tofu got totally burned. Next time I’ll try it with my non-stick baking pan.Oh well, still tasted good!
The kale and couscous were a little more bland, but still pretty good. Next time I think I will cook the kale a little longer or try to rip it up a little more, it was still pretty tough when I ate it.
However, all in all, a successful meal, which ate while enjoying a nice Fat Tire.
Posted by Austin Becca
