Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Flashback From 'Nam

You know how some recipes never make it off the to-do list? Well, I was certain the Vietnamese Seitan Baguette with Savory Broth Dip from the Veganomicon would be one of those. However, as you can see in the picture below, it miraculously moved from the wish list to my plate.

Stacked with VCon's Seitan Cutlets, cucumber slices, red onion, and cilantro sprigs, this was sandwich whisked me away to Vietnam ... or well, what I imagine Vietnam is like anyway. Of course, my only knowledge of 'Nam comes from the smelly-fish markets and blighted projects of Memphis' Little Vietnam neighborhood a few blocks away from my house. I'm sure the actual country is much nicer, as was the sandwich.

Each bite was first dipped into this Asian-inspired au jus sauce, made with a base of veggie broth and soy sauce and seasoned with all kinds of spicy goodness.

As an omni kid, my favorite sandwich was the French dip roast beef sub from Rax (a now-defunct roast beef chain, kinda like Arby's). And this really brought back memories of my chubby seven-year-old self sopping flavorful juice into lightly toasted bread and "meat."

Here's the whole plate for full effect:

I served the sandwich with Garden of Eatin' Blue Corn Tortilla Chips and Trader Joe's Corn and Chile Tomato-less Salsa (not pictured). I can say with certainty that this meal has moved from an unlikely dinner contender to heavy rotation.

By the way, I was given the Butterfly Blog award by two awesome fellow bloggers — Agnes of Agnes' World of Vegan Pleasures and Jen of That Pain in the Ass Vegan.

Thanks guys! It means a lot that ya'll thought about me! Now I'm supposed to pass the award on to a few others. There are plenty of folks who deserve it, but some of them have already received the award once or twice. So I'm going to do my best to try not to repeat award winners, but if do, sorry! Okay, drum roll please ... the winners of the Butterfly Blog Award are:

1) Shelby from La Belle Vegan
2) Jessy from Happy Vegan Face
3) Jess of Get Sconed
4) Theresa of The Tropical Vegan
5) Cyn at What the Hell Does Pink-Haired Girl Eat?
6) Chelsea from Ramblings from a Native Vegan Mecca Girl

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is one of my favourite sammies from VCON! I'd never had a "dip" sammie before this one, so it's cool to know it's "authentic"ish.
Congrats on the award.

Anonymous said...

Awwww, thanks for the award! The broth for that sandwich is probably one of my favorite things ever - so freaking tasty.

Anonymous said...

you totally deserve the award!

Sal - AlienOnToast said...

I haven't made that sammie yet but it's on my list too!!

Congrats on the award!

River (Wing-It Vegan) said...

Congrats on the award! Dang, that sandwich looks ultra good!! You should open your own sub shop, then you can call it Bian-way! :D

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

CONGRATULATIONS ON THE WELL-DESERVED AWARD, BIANCA!!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the award and thank you for passing it on to me!!!

I've always been curious about that sandwich...it looks delicious =)

Alicia said...

so... you dip the sandwich huh? I'll have to try that! sounds very interesting!

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Thanks, that's so sweet of you! My cilantro hating ways have held me off on making that sandwich, but your plating looks fab!

tofufreak said...

i still [sadly] have yet to make the sammich but i think i shall now thanks to your inspiration :)

congrats on the award!

Agnesss =) said...

Hey Bianca!!

You deserve THE AWARD!! =D

Well,this SANDWICH...LOOKS SUPER YUMMY!!!! I LOVE BIG SANDWICHES hah =D

It looks like it'd be served in a good restaurant !! Perfect!!

Enjoy your time!!!!!!!
HUGS!!!

Agnesss =) said...

Hey Bianca!!

You deserve THE AWARD!! =D

Well,this SANDWICH...LOOKS SUPER YUMMY!!!! I LOVE BIG SANDWICHES hah =D

It looks like it'd be served in a good restaurant !! Perfect!!

Enjoy your time!!!!!!!
HUGS!!!

Theresa said...

That sandwich looks so great! Congrats on the award, and thanks for passing it on to me!

Chelsea said...

Why thank you!!!

My mom says I liked those sandwiches from Arby's when I was a kid but I don't believe her!

Mike K said...

You know, I wanted to make that sammich the first time I opened v-con, and still haven't done it. Now I really have to - it looks so good. Congrats on the award too!

T said...

Yerm! This sandwich sounds a lot weirder than it looks... now I might have to try it!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

You are one of MY favorite bloggers, Bianca!

Anonymous said...

as soon as i saw this, it reminded me of a french dip from arby's!! but then you said you loved french dips, too. they are pretty good, but this looks 10x better!!!

Lindsay (Happy Herbivore) said...

congrads!!!

Katy said...

You know, I don't think I've ever made a sandwich from a cookbook before. I definitely need to change that!
Congrats on the award! You're definitely one of my favs!

jessy said...

congrats on the award, Bianca! and thanks for passing it along to me, too! you're too awesome!

i must say that your sammie looks like the best damn thing ever! jeeeeeeeeeeeebus it looks amazing! i need to check out that recipe! fo 'sho! :D

Erin said...

Oh my gosh, someone else who remembers Rax!!!!! I totally ate there all the time as a kid. I would get the salad bar but then try to only eat pudding for dinner. Then they gave a bunch of people food poisoning and closed. Sad.