Pho Vietnam

Pho Vietnam is a small family owned and family operated restaurant, located on a busy Rogers Avenue in Fort Smith. 
I heard they have a big selection of vegetarian dishes. 
Outside it looks like a gas station, well, because it was a gas station before.
Inside...  here I need to elaborate some more. My first impression was: Wow! Is it a place to eat or a craft store? 
I almost stepped back, but then I saw people being waited at a tables behind a palm tree, I proceeded through an artificial tree "jungle" to an empty spot.
While waiting to be served, I occupied myself exploring the rest of the decor: from a farm animals to lobsters, a piece of everything is  in this little place.
My observation was interrupted by a middle-age gentlemen, who brought me some water and a menu. 
Another Wow! They sure have  a hundred dishes on the menu!

My eye caught a Vegetable Curry soup.
Yes, I'll have this.


Back in Seattle I use to go to a Vietnamese Deli just to get their delicious sandwiches with tofu and pickled vegetables. 
I was happy to see it on the menu at Pho Vietnam and ordered it to go, for later.

As a starter I asked for a vegetarian spring rolls.

When the food came, no decorations interested me anymore.
I indulged myself into delicious mini feast.
Everything was so good.



Desert



There was something else about the food: it didn't taste commercial. It had a rich flavor, an oriental taste, and something else that I couldn't figure out what it was.
I shared my thoughts with my yoga friends, who go to Pho Vietnam often for lunch and dinner.
Bryan, my yoga instructor, told me later that Lilly (she and her husband Eric own and run this little place) cooks everything by herself and seasons every dish she cooks with a very special ingredient - Love...
I certainly felt it...





Pho Vietnam from across the street



Until next time,
Cowboy Country Vegetarian

No Stories, Just a Pie

This morning was cold... I just wanted to stay at home wrapped in a  warm blanket and read a new book.  

However, I had a full schedule. 

By midday all  I wanted was potatoes and mushroom pie.

Here is how to make it:

Boil five Russet potatoes until done.

Pill the skin and mash it while potatoes are still warm. 

Let it cool.

Prepare filling from:

5 Portobello mushrooms, cleaned and cut in 1/2 inches cubes

1 large onion, chopped

1 cup of grated cheese (I used extra sharp cheddar this time)

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp dry dill

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Simmer onions in a frying pan on a medium-high until golden brown. 

Add mushrooms and simmer for another 7 minutes, stirring a few times. 

Season with salt, pepper, and dry dill. 

Taste. Adjust a flavor. 

Taste again.

Remove from the heat, let it cool for a few minutes. 

Add 1/3 cup of cheese. Mix well.

Grease a 9 inch round pie pan with a little olive oil. 

Press mashed potatoes to form a pie crust. 

Place the pan in the oven for 10 min. 

Add filling and cover with the remaining cheese. 

Bake another 10-12 minutes until cheese forms a nice golden-brown crust. 

Remove from the oven and let it rest for 5-7 minutes. 

Serve with fresh vegetables or pickles. 

This pie was so warm and cozy, just what I needed to wrap up this cold day.

Until next time,

Cowboy Country Vegetarian

Cabbage Baby

When I was a little girl, probably 3 or 4 years old, I use to ask my grandparents and my parents where did they find me. And the answer was: in the cabbage.
I remember even taking my grandfather to a garden and asking him to show me that cabbage!
I guess, those stories really effected my special relationships with all the cabbage family, I just love it!
Kale, Brussel Sprouts, collards, red cabbage, green, cauliflower, Kohlrabi, you name it.
If I don't have a lunch or dinner planned, it will be some dish made of cabbage.
Easy, quick, and super healthy...
Confession: I can eat cabbage rolls or borshch even for breakfast...
Last week my parents flew in from Europe, and with my dad being a diabetic I have to cook keeping it in mind.
So today I made a roasted Brussel sprouts.


I used:

2 lb Brussel sprouts, halved

For dressing:
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried dill (fresh can be used but dried has more aroma)
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
Juice from 1/2 orange
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp salt

I mixed all the dressing ingredients into a paste, then coated Brussel sprouts with it and  placed those baby cabbages in one layer in the non-stick baking pan.
Baked it for 30 min at 375 F.

Maybe, I was found in some cabbage after all...  :)



Until next time,
Cowboy Country Vegetarian

Personal Best

For me a Healthy Lifestyle is about healthy food, physical activities and some fun on a top of every day's routine.  
We all are busy with jobs and family obligations. It is very difficult to find time for  a walk or squeeze a trip to the gym in the schedule. 
How many times I hear: "Yes, I need to start walking" or "I have a gym membership, I need to start going..." And next day an invitation from a friend to have lunch/dinner or another "can't-live'without TV show" postpones us from taking some actions...


Day after day as we delay any physical activities to make our heart work to melt all the consumed calories into the energy we mount pound after pound on our bodies...


My friend Lisa is a very busy mom, spouse, daughter, and a director of hospitalist program at the local hospital. 
One week she works 12 hours shift for seven days straight, that leaves  her with time to sleep and a very little time for family and friends. 
Next week she is off but has all those administrative duties as the director, so she is not really off. Let me put it this way, she is off from treating patients. 
How much time do you think she has for herself? 


However, this April she decided to start running. She didn't just run, she had a schedule posted on her fridge, and she marked every day's routine after it was done. She also told me that she posted on her Face Book page her goals to help her to stay on track. Lisa made her health a priority, day after day.


In June Lisa run her first 5K. I was so proud and so happy for her! First achievement is the hardest one and therefore it is the  most rewarding!
Then Lisa signed up for  a 10K. Summer in Fort Smith was extremely hot and Lisa bought herself a treadmill to continue practicing. 
I was receiving short text messages with numbers only but I knew exactly what it meant: 5.2; 6.0; 8.4 - What? I thought 10K was 6.2 miles. 
When I asked her about 8.4 number, she said she changed her mind and signed up for a half marathon in San Antonio! Clarification: half marathon is 13.1 miles (21 km)! 
And yes, she did it! 

Lisa after running her first half marathon... San Antonio, November 2011

Practicing for marathon takes dedication and hard work (although Lisa thinks it's fun and I totally agree with her). 
And if busy Lisa can find two hours every day to run or exercise six days a week, I have no excuses at all. 
This morning I geared up and went to the gym to do my personal best for today!


Have you done something good for your body today?


Until next time,
Cowboy Country Vegetarian

Picking berries in Sweden

Walking on a fallen leaves always  makes me want to go into the woods and pick some berries or mushrooms. 
My ancestors, probably, were gatherers as I sometimes have this urge to gather something myself.  Occasionally, I tag alone with some friends who know what they are doing (vital skill when gathering wild berries and mushrooms).
Some years ago I spent a long weekend with my friends in Sweden. Weather was promising so we decided to hike and gather some food for our dinner table.  It was that time in the fall when all leaves have fallen to the ground and each step was accompanied by a crunch... 
Crunch-crunch... 
Crunch-crunch...
By the end of the hike we had enough mushrooms for dinner, some lingonberries and cranberries.
From mushroom we made a delicious soup. 
A ball with berries though  traveled in a fridge from one corner to another for a few days. 
One cold night we were sitting around a fireplace wishing we had some pie. 
We remembered our berries and here what we came up to:


"Picking Berries in Sweden" Pie


2 cups rolled rye flakes
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rye flour
1/3 cup turbinado sugar
1/3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup Earth Balance (butter will work as well)
1/2 cup milk
2 cups  frozen blueberries
1 cup lingonberries jam (from IKEA)


Combine rye flakes, flour, salt and sugar.
In a measuring cup mix baking soda and lemon juice until foamy.

Melt Earth Balance (or butter), slowly add milk, and mixture of baking soda and lemon juice. Stir and add to the dry ingredients. Mix it well and set aside for 10-15 minutes.
At this point turn the oven and preheat it to 375 F (190 C).


When the oven is heated, press the dough in the 9 inch pie pan and bake 15 minutes until golden brown crust forms.

Mix lingonberries jam with frozen blueberries and spread it on the top of the crust.


Place back in the oven and bake for another 15-17 minutes.

Sprinkled with sunflower seeds

Pie needs to cool down for 2-3 hours (if you can wait).


We weren't patient that night and enjoyed the lingonberrie pie to the last crunch... 
Crunch-crunch...


Until next time,
Cowboy Country Vegetarian


P.S. Our pie was made from lingonberries only. I found combination of blueberries and lingonberries to be milder. Happy experimenting!