“We just ate at the best restaurant. Have you heard of Native Foods?” It was my dad on the line excitedly telling me about a new vegan restaurant that moved in just down the street from his home. He isn’t vegan, but has professed, on several occasions, his love for their “steak” sandwich and vegan Ruben. I was intrigued and looked up the menu which did look delightful, but unfortunately, we don’t have a Native Foods nearby, so I couldn’t vouch for their deliciousness.
Then my husband, Phillip, visited Portland, OR and began texting me pictures of his Native Foods lunch. It looked a.m.a.z.i.n.g. He too raved about their moist cornbread and creamy vegan ranch dressing. He said it was one of the best meals he’d ever had. Wow. Now I was jealous.
One of the most fun aspects of becoming vegan is expanding our pallets to explore new restaurants. It feels like a treasure hunt to discover new favorites. Still, I was bummed that I couldn’t taste this treasure!
Then I got a gift: the native foods cookbook from my dad for my birthday. Now I could create their ranch dressing in the comfort of my own kitchen, and it is super-duper yummy, just as everyone in my life had been professing.
We’ve made a few recipes out of the cookbook and everything has been delicious. I’m learning new vegan-specific cooking techniques and the book includes a certain professional flair that you only find in restaurants which makes the meals we make at home especially special. Yes, we are garnishing with abandon.
The Dinners
Here’s what we’ve made so far:
This was the Buddha bowl. A lovely mix of veggies and blackened tempeh over rice with a creamy herbed coconut curry sauce. It is garnished with green onions and dried cranberries. Perfect, one-bowl comfort food.
This night we got a bit fancy. We invited a friend who’s been experimenting with a plant based diet, so we wanted to wow him. I made the “Mad Cowboy” named after Howard Lyman a cattle rancher turned vegan after he saw the connection between his family’s health problems and their diet. It was a baked potato topped with vegan “chicken,” steamed veggies, ranch dressing and BBQ sauce. We served this with grilled corn.
Thanks for the birthday dinner honey!!
Lastly, for my birthday, I requested Phillip make me something out of the cookbook. He did a delicious job of making the vegan Caesar salad served with seitan-based stroganoff. The salad was lemony and tangy just as Caesar should be. The stroganoff topped pasta was very close to what you would expect from the original.
If you’d like to experiment with the cookbook in your own kitchen, you can order your copy from the Native Foods website. And if you’re lucky enough, there may be a Native Foods coming to your area soon. They just announced an expansion of 200 restaurants! Good stuff!
What are your favorite vegan cookbooks?
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