Other People’s Recipes: Newspaper Clippings

Prior to my most recent visit home to visit my parents, my mom told me that their newspaper had a feature on a restaurant that had recently opened (called Veg Out – located in London, ON), and it happened to be vegan! In addition to an interview with the owner of the restaurant – Florine Morrison – the article also included two recipes: a Cornmeal-Crusted Tempeh Caesar Sandwich, and a Summer Corn Chowder (see the interview & both recipes here). We decided to make both – the sandwich for dinner, and the chowder for leftovers throughout the week.

I was excited to make the cornmeal-crusted tempeh because it meant that I could use my mom’s cast iron pan. I’ve been debating getting one and figured this would be a good test. The tempeh steaks were dipped in a wet dredge of flour, cornstarch & water then covered in a dry dredge of cornmeal & spices.

After dredging, the steaks were fried until crisp (ahem, some more than others…) and I learned a valuable lesson about the characteristics of cast iron pans.

From there, we assembled the sandwiches. I made the Caesar dressing listed in the recipe and it was delicious! Even though it’s made with tofu & capers, it really tasted like its authentic counterpart! I also made Dreena Burton’s Living Caesar Dressing (the same one that Chelsea & I used for our first Healthy Meal Time) as a back up. We ended up using both because they were so good! Along with the tempeh, we piled our sandwiches high with red onion, tomato, romaine lettuce & avocado.

Tip: to take the bite & sharpness out of raw red onions, put the chopped or sliced onions in a strainer and pour boiling water over them. This wilts them slightly and takes away the edge but doesn’t fully cook the onions so they don’t lose their shape.

Despite my less than stellar performance in the frying department, these sandwiches were delicious! Very hearty & filling, but super delicious. Next time, I’d probably half the amount of dredge ingredients. I doubled the amount of tempeh called for and there were still tonnes of leftovers in the bowls.

The next day, I made good use of my mom’s chefs knife & cutting board during the prepping of the veggies for the chowder. The recipe called for carrots, celery, onion, potato & corn (fresh from the field, I might add) all to be diced. It was a LOT of knife work.

The cramped hands were worth it though. This chowder was really flavourful. I liked how even though the corn made it slightly sweet, all the savoury herbs & spices really balanced it out. I pureed it with an emersion blender for a few seconds to blend up some of the veggies, but still kept it fairly chunky.

It might be hard to tell from the above photo, but this recipe made a LOT of chowder. My mom sent some home with me and it lasted for 2 dinners and 2 lunches for Mac and I! It’d be a great freezer meal for sure.

It makes me really happy that vegan restaurants are becoming more popular these days. I’d definitely like to make a trip to Veg Out sometime. If there menu is anything like the two recipes I tried, I’d say I’m in for a treat!