A Vegan Roll Date Night

Growing up in the Midwest, I couldn't get any farther from an ocean if I tried. Because of my landlocked upbringing, my exposure to seafood was somewhat limited. I discovered sushi rolls by accident one night in college. A group of friends and I went to a Japanese restaurant with the sole purpose of consuming half-priced sake bombs (you know - sake, sake, sake BOMB!). This chance encounter was the beginning of a very sweet love affair with these delectable rolls. Since then, I have tried every type of roll under the sun - eel, squid, octopus, salmon roe, sea urchin, you name it.

You know what I find really irritating? If you order a veggie sushi roll at a restaurant, it costs just as much as one with seafood in it. That really irks me. So, Jason and I decided to make our own at home - what a fun date night!

Can you tell which ones Jason rolled? :)

Sushi Sticky Rice

Step 1: Pour 2 cups of brown basmati rice into a rice cooker with 2 cups of water.

Step 2: Microwave 2 tbsp rice vinegar + 1 tbsp sugar + 1 tsp salt for 30 seconds.

Step 3: Pour vinegar mixture over warm cooked rice.

Step 4: Let rice cool.

Assemble Your Rolls

Nori (seaweed). Rice. Toasted sesame seeds. Avocado. Tofu. Cucumber. Carrots. Bean spouts. Soy sauce. Wasabi. Pickled ginger.

Turned out better than any restaurant version of veggie sushi I've had.

4 Month Check-In

From Cafe Gratitude

Time for a check-in. What started as a 30 day challenge has morphed into a new and extremely satisfying lifestyle. After three months, I began to hit a confident stride. I could easily keep myself from starving, get the nutrients I needed, and put together vegan meals without having to follow recipes or meal plans I got online. I stopped focusing so much on the fact that I was VEGAN (omg), and began simply living as such. When you focus on every breath you take, it is harder to breathe for some reason - same goes for being vegan. Once I stopped obsessing about it, it became easy and a part of me. Now four months in, I feel like I could (and might) do this forever.  

Not to say there aren't days when it is extremely frustrating. Why can't there be more vegan options? Why do I have to ask this waitress a million questions about what is in the food? Why doesn't Target carry tofu or almond milk? Why is Chipotle the only vegan friendly, reasonably priced, quick place to eat? Why can't I get rid of these pesky fruit flies for good (more to come on this later)?!? Luckily, these occurrences are dwarfed by the positivity I have seen and felt from this lifestyle change. I truly do feel that I have gained more than I have given up. 

Cafe Gratitude Dessert

Image Source

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Restaurant Review: Füd

813 W. 17th Street. Kansas City. MO. 64108.

Since becoming vegan, Jason and I have cooked most of our meals at home. I knew Kansas City had some veg restaurants, but frankly, I thought they were going to be really weird. Even though I've been vegan for almost four months now, the picture in my head was that they would be "stereotypical vegan." You know, the menu is comprised solely of tofu, everything is really mushy, has no flavor, and comes with a side of grass and other unappealing foliage. I should have known better. 

Despite this horrible image I had in my head, Saturday night we headed to Füd. This local vegan dining establishment focuses on organic food, sustainable practices, and having the lowest possible carbon footprint. So all in all, you can feel really good about eating at Füd. On a sidenote, they only accept cash and checks, glad we saw that before leaving the house.

Now let's talk about the food. I was shocked to find such a diverse menu with a plethora of different options. I settled on the Rainbow Salad from the Living Fresh Food portion of the menu. A living rainbow of greens, avocado, apple, carrot, squash, cucumber, bell pepper, parmesan seed, nuts and house dressing. This was, hands down, the best salad I've had in my entire life (Jason agreed). I'm not sure what they put in their house dressing, but they should bottle and sell it. Vegan or not, you can't go wrong with this for a meal.

Rainbow Salad

Jason ordered the Jack Reuben from the Hot Fresh Food portion of the menu. Panini style jack fruit spiced and stacked with garlic sweed cheese, thrillanaise, and sauerkraut on rye. If you're like me, you're thinking...what is thrillanaise...and sweed cheese...? The menu is sprinkled with these words that are probably not in Webster's dictionary. But don't worry or focus on that too much. I don't know what they mean either. All you need to know is that it's a reuben sandwich. And it's good.

Jack Reuben

Although we were sufficiently full, we pushed on and ordered dessert: cashew soft serve ice cream sundae topped with raw chocolate sauce, raw superfood caramel sauce, goji berries, cacao nibs, blueberries, and pecans. I'm telling you right now, I would go back to Füd for the dessert alone, it was that good. Just looking at the picture of the sundae is making my mouth water. Everyone. Must. Try. This.

Cashew Ice Cream Sundae

So in summation, we had an incredible dinner experience and Füd far exceeded our expectations. I highly encourage everyone to give this restaurant a try, I think you'll walk away full and completely satisfied.

Oh, Paneer.

Let me tell you about the most amazing cheese in the world; it’s called paneer. I've heard people refer to it as “Indian cottage cheese,” which I feel is a little misleading. I think it is more like a cross between mozzarella and feta. It’s got some give to it, yet it doesn't quite stretch like mozzarella nor crumble like feta. It truly is in a league of its own. You can buy it at an Indian market – it comes in blocks or smaller cubes, and full fat or reduced fat varieties. If you are a cheese lover who has yet to discover paneer in all of its glory, get on it ASAP! Don’t let the tragedy continue.

Jason’s mom introduced me to this little piece of heaven over a year ago. And I was spoiled because it was homemade, can’t beat that! Palak Paneer (spinach and cheese) became a fast favorite of mine. Since going vegan, I have been in a state of mourning because I thought I would never be able to eat it again. Then, lo and behold, one of my co-workers suggested that I replace the paneer in the recipe with tofu. Brilliant! And so I did. The verdict? It’s a win!

 Here is my veganized recipe for Palak Paneer; the original recipe credit goes to Jason’s mom.

Tofu Marinade:

1 teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon red chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon canola oil

12 ounces (1 block) firm, pressed tofu

Other Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

½ inch ginger root, chopped finely

Chilies, to taste, optional (if you like it spicy, use thai chilies)

½ teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

16-20 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

Salt, to taste

½ cup plain coconut yogurt

In a bowl, mix together turmeric, chili powder, salt, and canola oil. Drop in the tofu cubes and gently toss, taking care not to break the cubes. Let marinade (10 minutes is fine).

Place a large skillet over medium heat. When the pan is hot, pour the tofu and marinade into the pan. Fry the tofu cubes, lightly browning each side. Remove the tofu from the pan and set aside.

Using the same pan, add the onion, ginger, garlic, and chili (if using). Sauté the mixture until it’s evenly toffee-colored, which should take about 15 minutes. If the mixture is drying out and burning, add a couple of tablespoons of water.

Add the garam masala, coriander, and cumin. If you haven’t already, sprinkle a little water to keep the spices from burning. Cook, stirring often for 3-5 minutes.

Add the thawed spinach to the onion mixture and stir well. Add a little salt. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Add the yogurt a little bit at a time, stirring to incorporate. Once the yogurt is well mixed into the spinach, add the tofu. Put the pan back on the heat, cover, and cook until everything is warmed through, about 5 minutes.

*Basmati Rice*Dal*Roti*Vegan Palak Paneer*

But Why Dairy?

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I get the meat thing, but why did you give up dairy and eggs? I get that a lot, and rightfully so. Here are my reasons.

Health: It can be summed up in this video Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death, and I encourage everyone to watch it. This video found its way to us courtesy of Jason's friend and fellow vegan @wolsamnoraa.

Cows: Veal. A lot of people have a problem with the idea of veal and say - That's cruelty to baby cows so I don't eat veal! It's completely unnecessary! But do you know why veal exists? Think about it for a second. How is it that dairy cows can produce such large quantities of milk throughout their entire life? That's right! They are continuously impregnated. And what happens to (a large majority) of their offspring? You guessed it. Veal, a product of the dairy industry.

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Chickens: I have no problem with eggs in general. In fact, I am a major egg lover. If you ask Katie, my college roommate, she will tell you that at one point in time I was living exclusively on eggs. What? They were cheap and seemed more nutritious than Ramen noodles. My problem lies with factory farming and unfortunately that applies to the egg layin' hens too. Before I became vegan I was seriously considering a backyard chicken coop. I'm no longer in the market, but if you're interested Williams-Sonoma sells a variety.

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