Vegan Tofu Burger – Serves 2

Preheat the grill to high
Ingredients:
For the Vegan Tofu Burger

* 8 oz firm tofu
* 1/4 cup Tahini
* 1/2 cup ground walnuts
* 1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
* 1 tbsp soy sauce
* 1 cup breadcrumbs
* 4 oz mushrooms
* 1 tbsp olive oil

Directions:
For the Vegan Tofu Burger

1. Mash the tofu with the tahini in a bowl with a fork. Add the dill and the soy sauce.
2. Slice the mushrooms and then, in a separate frying pan over a medium-high heat, cook them in a slick of olive oil. Once they have released their water and are beginning to caramelize, add them to the tofu mixture. Add the walnuts and the breadcrumbs until the correct texture is achieved. The mixture should be just firm enough to form patties without being soggy.
3. Form the tofu into burger shapes and place on an oiled grill. Cook until browned on both sides.

Recipe from Foodtv.ca

House of Siam – Thai Restaurant

http://www.houseofsiam.net

151 South Second Street
San Jose, CA 95113
Tel 408-295-3397 Fax 408-295-3412

A Thai restaurant located smack dab in the middle of downtown San Jose. Close to the Camera 12 movie theater and next to Starbucks. They have live jazz on Saturday nights and validate for parking too, which makes for a nice perk on date nights.

Decorated with traditional Thai decor, they also have a “shoes off” section for a unique experience. The staff is nice, but food is a bit slow coming out. The good thing is, they have a vegetarian section which you can modify to make vegan if you choose. I recommend the vegetarian Pad Thai minus the egg, Tofu with sweet basil, brown rice and mango with sticky rice for dessert. Enjoy

Vegan Potato Salad

* 4 large russet or Idaho potatoes
* 1 cup of Vegannaise
* 1 cup celery, sliced thin
* 1/2 red onion, diced
* 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
* paprika

Directions:
Peel, cube, and boil potatoes until soft and fork tender. Drain and let cool.

Put potatoes in a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients, except paprika.

Sprinkle paprika on the top, chill and serve.

Recipe from Vegfamily.com

Vegan Loco Moco

INGREDIENTS:
Rice
* Rice (depends on quantity desired – follow directions on package)
* Water

Gravy
* 3/4 cup white or button mushrooms, chopped fine
* 3 to 6 cloves garlic, mashed and minced very well
* 1 small yellow or white onion, minced
* 1/4 cup vegan margarine
* 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
* 4 teaspoons nutritional yeast
* 2 tbsp soy sauce
* 1/4 cup flour
* 1/2 teaspoon sage
* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon salt

Hamburger

* 1-2 patties per person Veggie Burger (I used Gimmelean Sausage)

**Optional – Potato Salad and Grilled Egg (I grilled a slice of firm tofu)
* 1 slice of firm tofu per person
* 2 tbsp of olive oil

PREPARATION:
Cook rice 20- 30 minutes before starting gravy per instructions on package .

While waiting for rice, start gravy.

In a large skillet, melt the margarine and add onion, garlic and mushrooms. Cook for a minute or two over medium heat, until the onion is a bit tender and translucent Mix flour, nutritional yeast, vegetable broth and soy sauce, then add to mix.

Add seasonings, salt and pepper, stirring consistently. Allow to cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring regularly, until gravy thickens.

Heat up Hamburger as instructed on package.

Optional**- Grill tofu on skillet over medium heat until browned on both sides. Set aside.

Add rice to plate, top with hamburger, egg(optional grilled tofu), potato salad and cover with gravy. Enjoy!

King of Thai Noodle House

www.kingofthainoodle.com
184 Ofarrell St
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 677-9991

Fast service, cheap priced thai restaurant that has a vegetarian section on their menu. They have vegetarian soup, noodles and a few other items. I ordered the Pad Thai with no egg. It comes with generous portions of tofu and lots of veggies. The taste wasn’t stellar, but if its open till 1am, I’m not complaining Enjoy.

Shojin – organic & natural

http://theshojin.com
333 S. Alameda St. 3rd Floor Suite 310
Los Angeles, CA 90013

Yet another reason to go visit LA again. I haven’t been there yet, but being Japanese, its a must that I give this place a try. The cuisine is based on traditional Buddhist vegetarian food but with a flare. Looks good. Can’t wait to try it.

Revised:
I finally had the chance to visit the Shojin restaurant in LA. It’s located in the Little Tokyo Shopping center and parking is abundant. The mall is rather deserted, but the restaurant itself filled up while we were there. The restaurant is stylish and the service was great. The lunch menu was limited so I was a bit disappointed, but the food was good. I tried the Tomoto, Basil, Cheese sandwich (which was yummy) and the tempeh curry. The curry was served with a bowl of miso soup (which was a treat) and a caeser salad made of vegan cheese which was quite tasty. The tempeh was a bit bland, but the curry had some spice to it and was quite good. For dessert I had the Green Tea “moss” cake which was kinda dry, but the azuki bean portion of the cake was yummy Over all, I thought the restaurant was a great and worth visiting again next time I go back to LA. Enjoy!

Happy Family III

111 N Atlantic Blvd
Monterey Park, California 91754
626-282-8986

This is a Vegan Chinese restaurant located on the corner of Garvey and Atlantic Blvd on the 3rd floor of the plaza. The place is nice and clean with a huge selection to choose from. The waitress was a bit stingy about giving us the bigger table, but once we told her that we’d be eating generously, we were moved to a bigger table. We ordered Crispy Eggplant, Fried Mushroom, Chicken and mushroom, a fat noodle dish (i think it was chow fun) and Tofu soup. The Fried mushroom dish was my favorite. Chicken and mushroom was another favorite of others. They also have brown rice as an option which is always nice. The place is a well known among local vegetarians in the Monterey Park area, a good place if you’re craving Chinese food.

Orean’s The Health Express
website: http://www.oreanshealthexpress.com/

817 N Lake Ave
Pasadena, California 91104
626-794-0861

I had been to Pasadena millions of times, but never knew of this place. When you drive by, you wouldn’t know it was a vegetarian place, but its heaven for junk food lovers! They have burgers, pastrami, chili dogs, tamales, burritos and all sorts of goodies. Everything is vegan except for the cheese and ice cream. The tamale without cheese was good but not great. However the Teriyaki Chicken Burrito was really good. A definite place to check out next time you’re in Pasadena. Enjoy!

Orean’s The Health Express
website: http://www.oreanshealthexpress.com/

817 N Lake Ave
Pasadena, California 91104
626-794-0861

I had been to Pasadena millions of times, but never knew of this place. When you drive by, you wouldn’t know it was a vegetarian place, but its heaven for junk food lovers! They have burgers, pastrami, chili dogs, tamales, burritos and all sorts of goodies. Everything is vegan except for the cheese and ice cream. The tamale without cheese was good but not great. However the Teriyaki Chicken Burrito was really good. A definite place to check out next time you’re in Pasadena. Enjoy!