This recipe hails from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan. Pan-Fried Tempt-eh! sits atop Sesame Lime Soba Noodles with Shiitake Mushrooms and Edamame. It's very good; I've been wanting to make my own sesame sauce ever since I first tried the sesame "chicken" at Texas's own Green Vegetarian Cuisine. Dreena's sauce is different but still pretty excellent. The best part was the tempeh, though. I steamed it in my electric rice cooker before marinating and frying and it made a world of difference: no more sub-par tempeh for me! Otherwise, I followed Dreena's tempeh recipe to the T and it is perfection.
I've been wanting to eat at P.F. Chang's China Bistro all summer. It's my favorite restaurant that serves both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. I finally got to go yesterday with my grandparents in downtown Tempe, near the Arizona State University campus.
We ordered so much food there wasn't an open spot left on the table. The feast I assembled consisted of the Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps, Buddha's Steamed Feast, and brown rice. I had some cucumber thingies too but they aren't in my picture. They tiptoed their way onto my plate after I put the camera away.
You may only see a baby bit of P.F.'s amazing five-spice tofu in my little lettuce cup, but let me assure you that I did not share one bite of my heaping plate of tofu. If I had to guess I'd say it was an entire block of tofu on the plate, hehe. I was literally in heaven after this meal -- I had forgotten how good those lettuce wraps are!
Here I am, in my grandparents' backyard in Arizona. My sister was being really lazy and made me fetch her sunglasses for her while she was lounging in the pool, so I decided to wear them for a while before I gave them to her. I knew that she is actually too lazy to get out of the pool and take them off my face, so I thought I would have some fun with them first.
Now that the first half of my vacation is over, I will be embarking on part two: Disneyland plus Los Angeles, here I come!
Oh, oh! I almost forgot! I got my grades for organic chemistry: a B in lecture and an A in lab. And we didn't get curves, either. Not too shabby, for learning the entire course in five weeks. And, to brag even further, 2/3 of the original 75 people in the class dropped out, and 2/3 of the final number in the class failed. It was really really tough, but I made it through and I am so grateful! So thanks for putting up with my minimal blogging for the past month... I am back now and feeling better than ever!
42 comments:
Congrats on chemistry, thats awesome. Bragging was definitely in order. I hope my summer school class goes as well. Two things...
First, I order the exact same thing when I go to PF changs, tofu lettuce wraps and the steamed budah's feast rock! (the mushrooms and carrots are my favorite)
Second, are you a part of Campus Kitchen at SLU?
Your meals look amazing! You sure do have talent in the kitchen. :)
Congrats in your class! I am dreading taking organ chem., and I plan on putting it off as late in my college career as possible ( I know maybe not the best idea).
Glad to know your back!
YAY! Ruby's back! I've missed reading about your creative dishes.
I order the exact same thing whenever I go to PF Chang's. I haven't been there in a while, but now I might just plan a visit soon...
Most importantly, congrats on your grades! I am quite impressed with your mad chemistry skills.
Good job in the chem class! Yea! And that tempeh looks soooo freakin' amazing. I so need that book!
Congratulations Ruby! And as per usual, your cooking has me drooling!
I miss your post so so much!! BTW ... what camera do you use?!
Onto the food ....
ZOMG! Your 'din-din' (that's what I called my dinner too!!!)looks AMAZING!!! mmmm .... nom nom nom ... tofu and sesame noodle goodness - IN ONE PLATE, gosh ... I would be in heaven if I ate that :0D
I love lettuce wraps too!! Somehow I never knew it's possible to have a vegan version .... WOOT!! Yummy ... nom nom nom nom (sorry ... I know I'm odd)
And ... HELLO *waves* GORGEOUS!! You look so pretty and somewhat different to your profile pic ... :0) Man, LA + Disneyland?!!! - CAN'T GET ANYMORE jealous of that!
Last but not least, CONGRATS on your grades!! You're a NERD in my books (don't worry I'm a dork, too!) ;0)
Ruby Red!!! I've missed your posts/presence in the blogging world - you must come back more often, girl!! :0)
You always plate your dishes so elegantly - such works of art!!
Have fun in Arizona (I love visiting there, despite the extreme heat) and on the rest of your adventures!! :0)
Your mark for organic chemistry is excellent!! Nice work!!
Congrats on the awesome grades! We all know how hard you worked, so you totally deserve it!
Glad you're back to the "blogosphere"!
~Erin @ "Vegan & the City"
I was wondering about that Ochem grade! You rock, and damn girl, so does your food!
I lived in Tucson off and on for like 8 years, so your photo made me home sick- even though it's probably a million degrees out there!
Congrats on doing so well!!!
You're going to Disneyland... again??? =O Well you sure deserve it ;) and the vacation in general. Have a great time!!
What a lovely dinner you made yourself (I love the pictures!) and holy moly I want a bite of that buddha dish! Everything looks so delicious, yumm!
I love the picture of you, you look so pretty! And you strike a pretty cool pose with those sunglasses ;)
Those lettuce cups look amazing. I have only been to PF Chang's once... it is really good.
Where in arizona are you? I suppose I could look at your profile. I really want to move to Flagstaff. It is such a cute place! And I love the weather!
Congratulations on Chemistry...I totally failed that class sophomore year hehe
Your meals look so good! I've never tried tempeh but I just might have to after seeing this. =)
Are you enjoying this lovely heat here in AZ? You get used to it after a while but since your going to DISNEY LAND!!! Arghh I'm so jealous
I like following you on vacation! Arizona looks hot. But kind of awesome. And that meal looks very tasty, I'd like those lettuce wraps right now!
Unfortuately I'm afraid you'll find Disneyland less vegan-friendly than Disneyworld. When I was there last year we had a fridge in the hotel room which was a life saver. I'm pretty sure the veggie burger at Hungry Bear is vegan (it's tasty too), but if you get it make sure to ask for no butter on the bun. That was a big oopsie I made the first time. I had a nice meal at the fancy restaurant inside Pirates of the Caribbean, but it's the type of place where you have to call ahead and specify. Have fun!
Oh and congrats on your good chem grades!
Congratulations on chemistry - that's seriously impressive!
Oh you are making me SO jealous in AZ - I'm spending the summer away from my family (who lives there) just so I can intern in Chicago - psh! Oh well - it's good experience, right?
welcome back! you are so lucky to be in AZ! your meals look delicious (i love p.f. chang's lettuce wraps, teehee ^_^) have fun on your vacation! hope you get some much deserved rest!
First of all, I've gotta tell you,ya look like a model in that seductive pose hehe.
Second of all, I am jealous of EVEY SINGLE THING in your post (including your amazing grades in chemistry! WOW!). The tempeh/soba meal looks out-of-this-world good. And you KNOW I love PF Changs.
Ok, I must admit that I don't even like baking cakes/cupcakes! I really enjoy the decorating part, but don't like cooking. I need my own personal chef! Ah, to be uber-rich...
Nice job with the chem grades!
I haven't been to a PF Changs in forever, and you're making me want some of that tofu!
Enjoy Disneyland!!
Yay for being done with school! The best part of law school is no chemistry! :)
Those lettuce wraps are my absolute favorite! Have fun in LA!
I just have to know. Are you talking about "Green" in San Antonio, TX? The food there is fabulous.
Great job in your chem class! You must feel so accomplished now that it's finished and you got such great grades.
I forgot how much I loved P.F. Chang's! My family and I used to eat there all the time, but we haven't been there in a long time so I haven't tried a lot of their vegetarian dishes.
Your sister and my sister seem to have so much in common! My sister is exactly the kind of person to ask me to do the simplest of tasks for her (like getting sunglasses!)
Congrats on the grades!
The P.F Changs looks amazing. The only time I went there was before I was vegetarian, and the tofu looks much better than whatever I had then!
Yay, congrats on making out of chemistry alive, and with high marks to boot!
The P.F. Chang's in Tempe was the first one I'd ever been to! So good.
not too shabby?! that's what i call AWESOME!!!!!!! nice job on the chemistry! and your PF Chang yummies & the tempeh look glorious!
I hope you ate at Green while you were in AZ! I understand about your parents not knowing about your blog. I'm selective about who I tell, too! In L.A., my strongest suggestions are Follow Your Heart, Madeleine Bistro, Real Food Daily, one of the Ethiopian restaurants on Fairfax (my favorite is Nyala, but there is an all-vegan one called Rahel), Pure Luck, and Scoops for ice cream. If you want more suggestions, let me know...I didn't want to overload you w/ info. :)
You are such a rockstar, with your sunglasses and badass awesome chem grades :) Congrats! All the food looks delish too but that's totally a given, I mean it's been pre-approved by you!!
Congrats on owning Organic Chem! That is a huge accomplishment. And that tempeh dish looks pretty groovy. Have fun in L.A.! Drink as much Coffee Bean as possible for me (I miss it so!)
Wow, the tempeh looks so good and decadent! I need to try tempeh again and cook it right.
Cheers to getting through O-Chem! It was very tough for me too, although I didn't have it in 5 weeks. Beware, biochemistry is even harder (although I managed an A in all my classes).
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
Congrats on chemistry! well done! And this was a great feast to celebrate it ;-)
T-e-m-p-e-h...
P.S. Congrats on chem! :)
First of all, huge kudos for the great grade in O-Chem!!!! I know someone who almost didn't become a dentist due to that class.
I love to eat at PF Chang's! (And don't forget Mongolian Grill.)
Enjoy your Cali vacation.
Congrats on doing well in organic (or as we call it, "orgo", or "the widow-maker"). The lettuce cups look fantastic; I sure wish I lived in the neighborhood!
Your tempeh looks intriguing! I never know what to do with it, as its so new to me, so I've had a packet sat in the freezer for about a month now. I may have to try something like that (how did you do it?).
Its looking nice and warm in arizona, yey for summer!
And of course, congrats on the grades - they are well deserved!!
Hey there..just stumbled upon your blog..
Your tempeh looks soo awesome! Tempeh is definitely my favorite and I lovvve sesame sauce..i need to try this asap!
I've never been to a P.F. Chang's but i've heard soo much about it..i need to find one near me!
Adding your blog by the way..hope you don't mind! :)
Hey, hope your vacations was great. I had no idea that whole foods had chicago diner cake! I love their cookies, muffins, and especially their scones though. We definiely need to split a piece of cake when we go. as far as soy yogurt as a butter replacer, I don't thing it would work all the time, but in these cookies i think the butter was really more to hold things together, so yogurt worked fine. Though it probably made the cookies less crisp than the original recipe would be.
PF Changs so totally rocks the house. But your delicious tempeh looks just as good. Glad you are enjoying your vacation.
I too love P.F. Chang's vegetarian lettuce wraps. I make a "knock-off" version and have it posted on my blog under "appetizers" then "5 spice tofu lettuce wraps. Playing with your food is fun :)
i hope you had a good time in AZ, i'm from here and i love it..and i always get the veggie lettuce wraps at pf changs as my entree..haha
did you get a chance to go to green when you were here? it's a great vegan fats food place with po-boys, pizza, and stir-fries.
that native foods place looks amazing!love your blog
*fast food (not fats food)...although it definitely isn't the healthiest vegan food lol
sorry to be annoying, but i also wanted to say that i empathize with your un-adventurous little sister issue..she'll eat most of the desserts i make too (but even some of those are too "weird" for her), and she'll eat some basic tofu dishes i make..but anything that has the slightest tinge of interesting or exotic ingredients, and she's out the door. whenever we go to this vegan restaurant in socttsdale, mandala tea room, she just gets the plain pasta with marinara every time b/c it isn't "weird"..andddd she hates peanuts in savory foods, (did i mention the only ethnic cuisines she likes are chinese and mexican..how can you not like indian?!), and since im a peanut butter fanatic, that's often what's on the table..anyways, i'm rambling, but, my point is, i feel your frustration, but their loss right?
congratulations on your classes, and that tempeh dish looks absolutely *perfect*, as do all those dishes you had at Native Foods! I can't wait to see what you make from your new cookbook. :o
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